Ration rice being sold in black market in Tamil Nadu
Ration rice, currently being sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 2 per kg in Tamil Nadu, has joined the list of products being handled by street hawkers, who are buying it at Rs 4 and selling it for Rs 6 in rural areas.
By PTI |
THENI (TN): Ration rice, currently being sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 2 per kg in Tamil Nadu, has joined the list of products being handled by street hawkers, who are buying it at Rs 4 and selling it for Rs 6 in rural areas.
Southern districts, including Theni, Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli witnessed the strange spectacle of women vendors going street to street shouting "Ration Arisi Vikkalayoo" (Are you selling ration rice?).
Pazhani Ammal, a hawker said that she purchases the rice for Rs 4 a kg and sell it for Rs 6 a kg.
Some hawkers even collect ration cards by paying Rs 40 per card per month (each card is given 20 kg of Rs 2 per kg rice) and bought the rice for themselves, residents said.
The PDS shop owners said they are helpless as they had to give the rice to whoever produces ration cards. "It is a multi-crore business," said a shop owner who wished anonymity.
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A Saravanamuthu, a hotelier said the hawkers sell the ration rice either to them or the mills. "We may save upto to Rs 2 per kg by buying ration rice for making idli and dosa. Mill owners polish and sell it for Rs 12 per kg to traders either here or in Kerala," he said.
"No one can deny now that ration rice is sold in black market and smuggled to Kerala," said Murugan, a member of the local consumer protection council.
Meanwhile, revenue officials here said that they were "surprised" to hear that hawkers were buying ration rice.
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"We got some anonymous letters about it and we are verifying the same," an official told the media in Madurai. "If hawkers were involved in large numbers, then it would be difficult for us to track as they bought rice from houses and sold them at different sites," he said.
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