BJP, Congress demands to resolve ration dealers problems in TS

HYDERABAD: BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar alleged that the BRS government diverted the commission meant for ration dealers to other finance other needs. The Centre was regularly paying its share of the commission amount of ration dealers to the state government, he said.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao failed to resolve the problems faced by the ration dealers, Sanjay said.

Ration dealers had served strike notice on May 22 and the state government assured that it would resolve their problems but did not do so, he said.

Not a single GO related to ration dealers was issued till June 1 and this angered the ration dealers who began their strike, he said. “People are suffering a lot due to the strike by the ration dealers,” he said, putting their number at 91 lakh.

Sanjay said that the Narendra Modi government supplied free rice to the poor people during the Covid-19 pandemic and ration dealers worked while putting their life at risk. The BRS government was creating hurdles in subsidy rice distribution and procurement of paddy, he said.

TPCC working president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud said that the demands of the more than 17,300 ration dealers were genuine and the BRS government should consider them in a humane manner. The state government cuts 20 paise out of the 90-paise commission the dealers get as commission for distribution of a quintal of rice. Even on this 70 paise given to them, GST is levied, he said.

The government has stopped distribution of pulses and edible oils from ration shops. This has led to a fall in their income as the commodities they supply have fallen. Their income has fallen to about ₹6,000, he said.  

The government should shed its autocratic ways and pay heed to their demands. “We saw how they treated the RTC employees during their strike though they gave in to some demands after stymieing the strike,” he added.

Objecting to the government’s attempts to rope in DWCRA women as ration distributors, the Congress leader said, “Their demands for an insurance policy and permanency of license are genuine and should be heeded. They worked during the Corona lockdown and some of them lost their lives. The Congress will stand by them.”