Gujarat fair price shop owners plan indefinite strike from March 1

Ahmedabad: A traders’ association led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brother has threatened an indefinite strike from March 1 to press for various demands, including a higher commission from foodgrain sales.

Prahlad Modi, president of the Gujarat Fair Price Shop Owners’ Association, said today that the association had submitted a list of demands to the Gujarat government including a rise in commission from foodgrain sales to bring it at par with states like Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa.

“While the commission given to fair price shop owners in Gujarat is Rs 85 per quintal, it is Rs 200 in Rajasthan and Delhi, Rs 220 in Kerala, Rs 150 in Maharashtra and Rs 230 in Goa. We want parity in commission rates,” he said.

“We will go on an indefinite strike from March 1 if the government does not meet our demands by tomorrow. We have given them an ultimatum as the government has failed to meet our demands, several of which we had raised in May last year,” he added.

He said that the association wanted the software currently being used to operate the Annapurna Yojana at fair price shops to be replaced as it had glitches. “The software sometimes fails to read the fingerprint and Aadhaar card details of the beneficiaries, forcing them to return without their monthly quota of subsidised food grains,” Modi said.

The association also wants fair price shops to be allowed to sell gas cylinders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which aims to provide free LPG connections to women from BPL households, he said. Modi said that shop owners had been deprived of income due to the policy of the Central and state governments to reduce the use of kerosene, and instead supply gas under the Ujjwala Yojana.

Fairprice shop owners also want the government to provide financial assistance for the education of their children, Modi said.