Chennai, Sept 5:
Ration shop employees across Tamil Nadu will wear black clothes and badges from September 5 to 10 to press for the resolution of issues concerning the public distribution system.
The protest has been announced by the Tamil Nadu Government Ration Shop Employees’ Association to highlight difficulties faced by workers in implementing the Thayumanavar scheme.
The association has demanded that the Bluetooth-based distribution system be replaced with direct scanning through Point-of-Sale machines. It has also sought additional staff and payment of the pending Rs 200 incentive for implementing the scheme.
Other demands include allowing beneficiaries to receive commodities through authorised representatives and temporarily freezing cards that have not completed e-KYC, with automatic release after biometric authentication.
The association has sought special exemptions for women, pregnant employees, persons with disabilities and elderly workers.
It has also demanded permission to distribute three months’ commodities in a single instalment, door delivery after the 15th of every month and uniform working hours across the State.
The workers have sought the release of pending subsidies to cooperative societies and filling vacant salesperson posts or providing incentives until the vacancies are filled.