Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's Food and Civil Supplies Minister, GR Anil has claimed that the disrupted ration distribution will be reinstated from Thursday.
The minister on Wednesday announced the district-wise timings of ration distribution for the next six days.
Ration shops in the districts of Malappuram, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad will function from 8.30 am to 12 noon.
In the districts of Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Kottayam, Kasaragod and Idukki, ration shops will operate between 3.30-6.30 pm.
Ration distribution throughout the state was affected earlier this week due to technical issues with the computer server that backs the online system.
The e-PoS (electronic point of sale) machines at ration outlets had malfunctioned resulting in more than 60% of ration shops in the state staying shut as instructed by the ration dealers' association on Tuesday.
There was a significant dip in the number of consumers on January 10 and 11 compared to last week. While 2,38,000 cardholders collected their ration on January 7 and 2,27,000 the next day, the numbers dropped to 1,79,750 on January 10 and 1,03,791 on January 11.
According to traders, in most parts of the state, ration cardholders had to wait for long hours and then returned empty-handed.
With the additional allocation of rice and half-a-litre of kerosene, a large number of cardholders have been arriving at the ration shops.
The technical glitches occurred at the data centre in the Kazhakuttom TechnoPark where the details of 91.81 lakh cardholders have been stored. Minister Anil had asked the IT Mission Secretary to take steps to solve the issue at the earliest.
No such technical glitches were reported in the e-POS system during the last three months. But there were glitches in the system many times during last March and September.
