Onam Kits Yet to Reach Many Ration Shops in Keralam, UDF Government Faces Criticism

Thiruvananthapuram: The UDF government is facing allegations of serious negligence for failing to distribute Onam kits to ordinary families even after Atham. Yellow ration card (AAY) holders and inmates of welfare institutions are still waiting for their free Onam kits. However, the Civil Supplies Department has not yet delivered the kits in full to ration shops across the state. The government has also failed to ensure the distribution of special rice meant to provide relief to ordinary people amid rising prices.

Although the government has been claiming that kit distribution began across the state on August 10, distribution through ration shops remains disrupted. Civil Supplies officials have said that the kits will reach all ration shops before August 20. The delay comes at a time when various government departments are spending crores preparing for Onam celebrations and fairs.

Onam kits were not disrupted even during the 2018 floods or the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The LDF government had transformed Keralam’s public distribution system into a social security mechanism that became a model for the country and beyond. The expanded Onam kit distribution during 2021-22 was part of the LDF government’s efforts to ensure that nobody went hungry during the festive season.

In 2022, 68 lakh families received the kits within days of distribution beginning through ration shops. In 2025, the LDF government distributed 6,32,910 Onam kits to yellow-card families and inmates of welfare institutions at a cost of ₹42.83 crore.

In 2026, the UDF government announced a 16-item Onam kit worth ₹53 crore for 6,09,305 beneficiaries. However, the government has failed to ensure that the kits reach the intended beneficiaries.

The special ration distribution announced to control the rise in rice prices in the open market during the Onam season has also failed. Despite prices of essential commodities continuing to rise, the government has not taken effective measures to contain inflation.

For Onam, the government had announced three kilograms of rice for blue-card holders at ₹10.90 per kilogram and two kilograms of wheat at ₹8.70 per kilogram. White, blue and brown-card holders were to receive 10 kilograms of rice at ₹26 per kilogram, while pink-card holders were to receive three kilograms at the same rate. The delay has deprived lakhs of ordinary people of the special rice.

The 16-item kit includes a cloth bag, half a litre of coconut oil, payasam mix, sugar, pigeon peas, green gram dal, cowpeas, chickpeas, ghee, tea powder, sambar powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and powdered salt.

However, these items are not reaching eligible beneficiaries on time. Merely announcing welfare schemes is not enough; they must reach eligible people before Onam. The Onam kit is not a government favour but a right of those entitled to receive it, and the UDF government is allegedly shirking its responsibility to ensure its timely distribution.