Tamil Nadu minister assures ration shop employees of resolving demands before July 15

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has assured ration shop employees that their pending demands would be addressed before July 15, leading the Tamil Nadu Government Ration Shop Employees’ Association to withdraw its proposed boycott of the Chief Minister’s Thayumanavar doorstep ration delivery scheme.

The assurance came days after the association announced that employees across the State would boycott the scheme from July 1, alleging severe work pressure, technical failures, delays in biometric authentication and the absence of basic infrastructure required for doorstep delivery of ration commodities.

The assurance was given during a meeting between Cooperation Minister V Gandhiraj and a delegation led by the association’s State general secretary P Dinesh Kumar. The delegation submitted a memorandum detailing operational issues faced by ration shop employees and sought immediate administrative intervention.

According to the association, the meeting lasted about 45 minutes. It said the minister assured the delegation that all the demands would be resolved before July 15 after consultations with senior officials scheduled next week.

The association sought measures to address delays in biometric authentication under the Thayumanavar Scheme, stating that supplying commodities to a beneficiary often takes more than 20 minutes. It also requested the government to discontinue Bluetooth connectivity used in the authentication process and introduce an alternative mechanism.

Among the other demands were a permanent solution to vehicle hire charges, restoration of e-KYC services, simplification of enrolment of new beneficiaries, changes to the grocery procurement committee, introduction of a packet distribution system, appointment of helpers in all fair price shops, payment of loading charges by the department and reimbursement of additional expenditure incurred under the scheme.

The association also sought implementation of the Thayumanavar Scheme only after the 15th of every month and equal incentive payments for salespersons and helpers.

According to the association, Gandhiraj said the government would examine every issue raised and take a decision through the department before July 15.