T Ramavarman
Aim is to convert them into mini-supermarkets
Shops will retail commodities and consumer items
Scheme to be rolled out in three months
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Most of the ration shops will soon receive a facelift with the Government’s move to convert them into mini-supermarkets retailing much of the essential commodities and consumer items.
The move will be a unique initiative of the Government to give the much-needed impetus to revive the public distribution system (PDS), which is on the brink of extinction across the country in the aftermath of the liberalisation policies.
It also has the potential to become a crucial market intervention facility for the Government to hold the price line.
The previous United Democratic Front (UDF) Government had taken a few steps in that direction by allowing two Authorised Ration Dealer (ARD) outlets in each panchayat to be converted into Sabari stores retailing several items other than the conventional essential commodities distributed through the PDS network.
14,000-odd outlets
But the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government’s proposal is to extent those facilities to a majority of the 14,000-odd ARD outlets.
Minister for Food and Civil Supplies C Divakaran told The Hindu here the rollout of the scheme would begin in three months. Prior to the conversion, the ARD outlets must undertake some renovation works to showcase the items in an attractive fashion and woo a wider spectrum of customers.
They should have computerised facilities for weighing and billing. The ARD outlets with sufficient space alone could be converted as mini-super markets. The shops should be kept open regularly for fixed working hours, the Minister said.
At present, the ARD outlets functioned at arbitrary working hours based on the off-take of the items received for distribution.
Mr. Divakaran said the Government was considering a proposal to allow the ARD outlets in remote areas to become franchisees of the Maveli stores being run by the State Civil Supplies Corporation.
Welcoming the proposals, general secretary of the All Kerala Ration Dealers Association (AKDA) Sebastian Choondal said the association had in fact submitted a memorandum to the Government for the conversion of the ARD network into full-fledged retail outlets of all items.
Replying to questions, he said some of the ARD outlets, which had been converted into Sabari shops earlier, had become defunct because of the low levels of commission and unsteady supplies.
The wrong public perception about the items sold in the Sabari shops also dampened the prospects of such shops.
