Chennai, Oct 27:
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has urged the Tamil Nadu government to strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS) and ensure that essential commodities supplied through ration shops meet quality standards and remain affordable. The party has also demanded the withdrawal of a tender for setting up private document registration centres, alleging that the move could lead to the privatisation of functions handled by the Registration Department.
In a resolution on price rise, adopted at its state committee meeting in Chennai on October 23 and 24, the CPM said retail inflation in Tamil Nadu had reached 6.81 per cent, while food inflation stood at 10.62 per cent. The party said the increase in the prices of rice, pulses, sugar, vegetables and other essential commodities was placing a considerable burden on ordinary and middle-income households.
The party attributed the rise in prices to several factors, including GST, online trade and hoarding. It expressed concern over the quality of rice distributed through ration shops, stating that poor-quality supplies were forcing consumers to purchase rice from the open market.
The CPM called for stronger public distribution mechanisms and measures to ensure that beneficiaries received quality commodities at affordable prices. The demand assumes significance as ration shops remain an important source of essential food items for economically vulnerable households.
In another resolution, the party opposed the proposed private model registration centres. It alleged that the arrangement would transfer several administrative functions to private operators while leaving the formal authority to register documents with government officials.
The resolutions were adopted at the two-day state committee meeting attended by CPM general secretary MA Baby, Polit Bureau members PV Raghavulu, K Balakrishnan and U Vasuki, and state secretary P Shanmugam, among other senior leaders.