THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob told the Assembly that new ration cards would be distributed by March. The new cards would be in two categories - priority and non-priority - as per the new Food Security Act.
Replying to a question, he said that the preparation of the card was nearing completion and that the distribution would begin at the taluk level. When questions were raised about cutting short the allocation to card holders, he said that it was not true. ‘’The government has not cut short the allocation to card holders. A few months ago, the Centre had reduced the allocation to the state, but we were able to reverse that,” he said.
On the price hike of essential commodities, Jacob said that the price of essential commodities in the state was low when compared to other states. He also said that the price of rice had been stable for the past three years. He also mentioned that almost all the panchayats had been covered under Supplyco and only 39 panchayats remained to be covered.