Communist Party of India (CPI) State assistant secretary P.P. Suneer has urged the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government to refrain from adopting a confrontationist attitude towards ration dealers.
Inaugurating a demonstration taken out by the Ration Dealers’ Coordination State Committee in front of the Secretariat on Monday, Mr. Suneer, who is also the chairman of the Kerala State Housing Board, was critical of the government’s stance of adopting legal steps to allegedly deny ration dealers of their eligible benefits.
“Denying commissions for handling food kits to large sections of dealers and sanctioning them only to those who had moved the court does not befit a Left progressive government. The government should adopt a compassionate stance and resolve such issues without resorting to legal steps,” he said.
Mr. Suneer also said that the CPI, a coalition partner in the LDF, had urged the government to accord priority to ensuring the well-being of farmers, ration dealers and such sections. He was critical of the Centre for allegedly distributing resources in an inequitable manner. Such a stance had pushed Kerala into a financial crisis.
Monthly wage
Presiding over the protest meet, All Kerala Retail Ration Dealers’ Association president Johny Nelloor accused the government of failing to honour its promise of revising the ration dealers’ wage package implemented in 2018. He demanded steps to ensure a monthly wage of at least ₹30,000 for ration dealers. The government should meet the rent and electricity charges and ensure decent earnings for the dealers and other workers involved in the public distribution system. Unfortunately, nearly 3,000 dealers had been earning less than ₹10,000 a month under the existing circumstances, he claimed.
The protesters also demanded steps to ensure the timely disbursal of monthly remuneration and kerosene delivery to ration outlets, hike commission for sugar supplied to ration card holders, and to sanction outstanding commission dues for free kits distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also sought measures to upgrade all ration shops to K-Stores and permit the dealers to sell groceries.
