The Kerala government is back with the distribution of free Onam food kits for ration-card holders this year also. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan recently announced that Onam food kits with 14 items would be distributed this time.
The food kit will have:
Sugar - 1 kg
Green grams - 500 gm
Toor dal - 250 gm
Unakkalari - 500 gm
Sabari coconut oil - 500 ml
Sabari Tea -100 gm
Sabari chilli powder -100 gm
Sabari turmeric powder - 100 gm
Sarkara varatti -100 gm
Cashew nuts - 50 gm
Cardamom - 20 gm
Milma ghee - 50 ml
Salt - 1 kg
Cloth bag - 1
Thiruvonam, which marks the most important day of the 10-day Onam festivities, falls on September 8 this year. The harvest festival coincides with the New Year as per the traditional solar Malayalam calendar called Kollavarsham which has been in existence since 825 AD.
Despite the financial difficulties, the Onam kits would be distributed this year too, the CM said. The estimated cost is at Rs 425 crore. He explained that the food kits were distributed 13 times at a total cost of Rs 5,500 crore.
The SupplyCo CMD has directed the depot managers to expedite the process of preparing the kits and setting up the packing centres.
During the COVID-19 lockdown period, the government had distributed a kit containing 17 items.
