Thiruvananthapuram : In two years alone, the State govt set aside Rs 9702.46 crores to rein in inflation and the Kerala model came about even as the country slipped deeper and deeper into inflation crisis. The govt funneled Rs 5210 cr to Supplyco making it possible for public to buy everyday items at low rates. Food Corporation (FCI) was paid Rs 1444 crores for ration rice.Rs 1604 cr was spent toward paddy procurement and Rs 1338 crore in commissions to ration shop owners.
Rs 106 crore was paid for Utsavachandha(Festival bazar) of cooperative societies. Rs 46 lakh was paid to Thiramaitri Super Markets. Supplyco has kept prices of 13 everyday items unchanged since 2016. Two more items were included into that bracket. These items come with a subsidy of over 50 percent. Another 32 items come in subsidy range of 20 – 30 percent.
There are are 1623 Supplyco units operating in the state and 1929 Consumer Fed co-operative societies were started during Covid period. The Government’s Subikhsa and people-friendly hotels played important role in containing inflation. These eateries gave away full meals for just twenty rupees a plate.
To sustain these hotels, the government continues to supply 600 kilos of rice at just Rs 10.58 and a cash subsidy of Rs 5. The government also made needful interventions across 14,000 ration shops. The activities of the Assessment Cell s proved useful in terms of securing data on prices, supervision, evaluation and marketing interventions.
