The Nanma and Triveni stores that play a pivotal role in holding the price line through market interventions are facing the threat of closure.
Cooperative Department sources told The Hindu here that the warehouses as well as the shelves of the Triveni and Nanma stores being run by the Kerala State Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (Consumerfed) had virtually gone empty and suppliers had refused to replenish the stock unless the federation management cleared arrears worth Rs.400 crore.
Of the 2,000 Nanma stores, the federation directly operated 1,200 outlets and the rest were being managed by cooperative societies.
The 1,200 outlets and the 257 Triveni stores operated by the federation would be the first to face the crisis, the sources said.
The crisis is reported to be the fallout of corruption and maladministration that had taken a toll on the chain of outlets functioning across the State. With the financial resources drying up and sales returns dipping drastically, the federation outlets had been striving hard for survival.
Though the government had agreed to stand guarantee for raising Rs.150 crore from six district cooperative banks to help the federation brave the crisis, the director board reportedly chose to ignore the offer.
