After six months’ agitation, the ration retailers in the State are hoping for a happy end at the talks offered by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on May 20.
With most of their demands in the wake of the implementation of the Food Safety Act already agreed on, the retailers say they would clinch a deal at the May- 20 talks.
“We are confident that the Chief Minister will resolve the remaining issues at the talks as he is now well aware of our problems,” Kadampuzha Moosa, working president of the Kerala State Ration Dealers Association, told The Hindu . He said the last meeting of the retailers’ associations with the Food Minister, Finance Minister, and Chief Minister on April 25 had discussed the recommendations of the special committee set up to determine remunerations for the retailers. At the meeting, the Chief Minister had sought time until May 20.
₹15,000 honorarium
He said there was a general understanding on the remuneration. Based on the number of cardholders — up to 350, 450, 750 etc. — the ration shops would be categorised . Those retailers with 350 cardholders would get a monthly fixed honorarium of ₹15,000. They would also get ₹4,700 to pay rent and electricity and other costs. The rates for other categories would be higher.
The government had also agreed to get food grains delivered to the ration outlet. The ‘door-delivery’ was a major demand of the retailers. Food Minister P. Thilothaman last week told the Assembly that door-delivery would start in five districts shortly, following the success of a pilot plan in Kollam district.
Mr. Moosa said the two major issues now remained were the handling charges and the rates of food grain transport costs over the past five months. The retailers, assuming that each cardholder visited the ration outlet four times a month, had asked for a handling charge of ₹8 for each visit, thus totally ₹32 per cardholder a month. But the government side was willing to pay only ₹16 as it claimed that the monthly cardholder visits averaged two. As for the transportation dues, the government had informally agreed to pay at the rate of ₹50 a quintal.
‘Offer not enough’
T. Mohammedali, general secretary of the All Kerala Retail Ration Dealers Association, said he pinned his hopes on the May-20 talks. He said the indefinite shutdown that his association had started from May 1 had been called off following the Chief Minister’s talks offer. “Though the remunerations offered by the government are not very good, we will accept a deal if the government sticks to the plan at the talks,” he told The Hindu .
