Ration dealers in Kerala warn of indefinite strike from Nov 25

They cautioned that all of the 14,200-odd ration shops will down their shutters if the government failed to clear its dues by November 24. The strike will affect around 93 lakh ration card holders in the State.

Ration dealers have threatened to launch an indefinite strike commencing November 25 accusing the government of slashing their commission dues of October by over a half.

A joint action committee comprising various ration dealers and employees organisations, including the Left-leaning ones, served a strike notice to the government. The decision was made in protest against the government’s order to reduce commission for the month of October to 49%.

The agitators, who alleged the government had sanctioned only ₹14.46 crore instead of the actual requirement of ₹29.51 crore, claimed they had not received commission for Onam kits too. Under such circumstances, it would be extremely difficult to foot their building rent and electricity bills and remunerate their helpers, the dealers claimed.

They cautioned that all of the 14,200-odd ration shops will down their shutters if the government failed to clear its dues by November 24 (Friday). The strike will affect around 93 lakh ration card holders in the State.

The organisations that called for the strike include All Kerala Retail Ration Dealers Association, Kerala State Retail Ration Dealers Association, and the Kerala Ration Employees Unions that are affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC).

Urging the dealers to refrain from the proposed agitation that would bring the public distribution system to a halt, Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil attributed the crisis to the inadequate allocation of ₹216 crore that had been made in the State Budget to disburse the dealers’ commissions. With the launch of food supply under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) scheme since the COVID-19 lockdown, the government is required to earmark a total amount ranging from ₹28 to ₹30 crore to pay commissions instead of the ₹15-16 crore that used to be disbursed earlier.