Members of the Communist Party of India, and ration card holders jointly laid a siege to three fair price shops in the city on Sunday alleging irregular supply of essential commodities to the consumers.
According to the ration card holders attached to the fair price shops at Padmavathypuram, Anna Colony and V.O.C. Colony in the city, they were not getting pulses every month. The quantity of rice was lesser than that was prescribed.
P.R. Natarajan, the district executive committee member of the CPI, said that pulses were distributed at these shops once in two months.
This has resulted in thwarting the purpose of public distribution system, which was to control food prices. People were forced to spend a higher amount to purchase various varieties of pulses from open markets, he added.
CPI(M) central committee member U. Vasuki too criticised the irregular supply of pulses through fair price shops.
The ration card holders said that only 15 kg of rice was given to them on most of the months, against the entitled quantity of 20 kg.
They alleged that salesmen at the ration shops were forcing them to purchase detergent soaps, and tea dust.When contacted, A. Fakrudin, a salesman at the fair price shop in Padmavathypuram, said that there was shortage in supply of pulses. “Last month the shop got only 850 kg of red gram, and 400 kg of black gram. The shop has 1,264 cardholders who are entitled to get 1 kg of both the pulse,” he added.
Regarding the allegation that card holders were being asked to buy soaps, and tea dusts, he said that each shop has been given targets to sell these items given to them by the Tirupur Consumers’ Cooperative Wholesale Stores Limited, which supervises the distribution of essential commodities.
