The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) organised a mass protest march to Raj Bhavan on Saturday, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government of adopting a vengeful attitude towards people of the State by allegedly attempting to scuttle the public distribution system.
Inaugurating the agitation, Communist party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State unit secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the implementation of the National Food Security Act had had disastrous effects on Kerala with 54% of the population being denied essential commodities under the rationing system.
‘Severe omission’
“While 1.54 crore of households would benefit from the system, there are several more who would be left out of its ambit and would have to depend on the market for commodities. At present, the State was entitled to only 14.25 lakh metric tonnes of food grains, much less than the previous allocation of 16.5 lakh metric tonnes, prior to the implementation of the Act,” he said.
While former Union Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas had promised to assuage the concerns, the present administration had chosen to neglect the assurance, he said. Besides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ignored the State’s plea for additional allocation raised by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Food and Civil Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman on various occasions.
“Despite such hardships, the LDF government will pursue various options to strengthen the statutory rationing system. Market intervention efforts will also be undertaken by providing rice at Rs.25 a kg through the Maveli stores,” he said.
‘Punishing people’
Speaking on the occasion, Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission chairman V.S. Achuthanandan alleged that such policies of the BJP-led Central government were intended to ‘punish’ people for choosing against voting for them in the polls.
“The allocation of food grains has been cut despite the Centre benefiting through revenue from export of agricultural, dairy, and marine products from Kerala. The stance of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government could hamper Centre-State relations in the long run,” he said.
Imminent price rise
Communist party of India (CPI) State unit secretary Kanam Rajendran said that the cut in allocation of essential commodities could lead to the public distribution system going haywire. Such a scenario would lead to a rise in prices of commodities, forcing the public to depend on market for their daily needs. Any attempts to scuttle efficient rationing system should be countered, he said.
LDF convener Vaikom Viswan; C. Divakaran, MLA; Janata Dal (Secular) leader K. Krishnankutty, MLA; NCP State president Uzhavoor Vijayan; Congress(S) State general secretary Uzhamalakkal Venugopal; Kerala Congress (Scaria Thomas) leader Scaria Thomas; Kovoor Kunjumon of RSP(L); INL general secretary Ahammed Devar Kovil; G. Sugunan of the CMP; Kerala Congress (Democratic) leader Antony Raju; and CPI(M) district unit secretary Anavoor Nagappan were present on the occasion.
