The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has decided to extend the supply of Onam special food kits to ration card holders, probably until August end or even beyond. The decision was taken as the department was unable to meet the distribution targets.
While the department had planned to wind up the programme by August 16, only 58.41 lakh of the registered 91.02 lakh ration card holders in the State could be provided with the kits by 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Picked up pace
While the distribution has picked up pace during the days leading to Onam, it appeared unlikely that the Supplyco will be able to meet its target of supplying the kits to around 90% of the ration card holders in time. Under the circumstances, the government has been left with little option but to permit beneficiaries to receive the kits after Onam.
Explaining the rationale behind the move, official sources said many ration outlets held considerable stock of the kits. Besides, the food items that were apportioned for the kits could not be redistributed among Supplyco outlets for quality control concerns.
The paucity of certain items initially lined up for distribution also posed a hurdle during the drive. Besides cashew nuts, the difficulty in sourcing cardamom, banana chips and ‘sarkara varatti’ (jaggery-coated banana chips) is being cited as a reason.
Supplyco had decided to source banana chips through Kudumbasree units, but many self-help groups, especially those in the northern districts, were unable to meet the target. This led the department to substitute such items with more sugar or other items.
Despite this, the government can be credited with ensuring close to 85% coverage among the priority ration groups. Over 31.8 lakh out of the 38.31 lakh Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority House Hold (PHH) card holders have received the kits so far.
Conspiracy
Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil told media persons that attempts were being made by certain quarters to malign the government’s distribution programme. Accusing that a section of ration dealers were denying kits to the public despite the availability of stocks, he said Civil Supplies and Supplyco officials have been undertaking inspections to prevent such foul play.
