Chief Minister Oommen Chandy assured the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) here on Thursday that the government would pay up its outstanding dues to the corporation to meet its commitment to supply quality produce at affordable rates.
The Chief Minister was speaking at the State-wide launch of the Christmas and New Year special fairs opened by Supplyco.
Arrears to be paid
He said that the government owed the corporation money in connection with last year’s procurement of paddy from farmers. The arrears would be paid up at the earliest to ensure that Supplyco could continue to be effective in its market intervention programme.
Chairman and Managing Director of Supplyco A.T. James said the corporation planned to extend the reach of Maveli stores. He said only around 100 panchayats did not have Maveli stores so far. This gap would be bridged in the coming year.
New outlets
He also said more Maveli stores would be opened in panchayats where there were already such outlets.
Major force
Minister for Civil Supplies Anoop Jacob said the Civil Supplies Corporation continued to be a major force in the market and appealed to employees of the corporation to ensure that ordinary people in the State received quality produce at affordable rates.
Affordable products
He emphasised that the corporation was in operation not to make huge profits but to ensure that it acted as a market force to ensure supply of affordable products and produce to the people.
Tony Chammany, Mayor of the Corporation of Cochin; Dominic Presentation and Hibi Eden, MLAs; and officials from Supplyco were among those present at the launch of the fairs at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium premises in Kaloor.
