Thiruvananthapuram | CPI leader G R Anil on Thursday urged the Kerala government to intervene to contain the prices of essential commodities during the Onam season.

Addressing a press conference here, the former civil supplies minister said the previous LDF government had taken effective measures to keep prices of essential commodities under control, but the situation was different now.

He said the availability of non-subsidised products and essential commodities at fair prices through Supplyco outlets had helped contain market prices during the previous Onam season.

"Over 56 lakh families relied on Supplyco outlets. Since every buyer punches their ration card, we can know the exact figures," he said.

He said the figures demonstrated the extent of government intervention in the market and the dependence of people on Supplyco outlets for essential commodities at fair prices.

Apart from Supplyco, subsidised products were also available at fair prices through Consumerfed, cooperative institution shops and various other centres, he said.

"What I am saying is, if you examine the accounts of each sector and each product, the government itself intervened in the market to provide a facility to shield people who had to depend on the open market from the harsh impact of price rises. That is market intervention," Anil said.

He claimed that such intervention had been a model followed by successive Left governments in Kerala for several years.

"This time, people have been abandoned to the open market," he alleged.

Referring to reports of rising prices of rice and other essential commodities, Anil said traders had expressed surprise at the government's approach during the Onam season.

"Wholesale traders and retail traders who deal in rice are saying with surprise that we have never seen a situation where the government stands as mere spectators during the Onam season," he said.

Anil criticised the state government's alleged failure to secure adequate allocations of rice and wheat from the Centre.

He said the Centre had stopped the tide-over allocation of wheat in 2022, which had been supplied to holders of white and blue ration cards.

The decision had affected around 50 to 51 lakh families, he said, adding that he had repeatedly raised the issue with union ministers when he was the civil supplies minister.

The issue was also raised by Kerala MPs in Parliament, and the wheat allocation was later restored following these efforts, he said.

Anil said special allocations of rice and wheat had traditionally been provided through ration shops during festivals such as Onam, Christmas, Vishu and Ramzan.

"The complete failure and negligence of the civil supplies department is what pushed people into severe price hikes during this Onam season," he said.

With Onam approaching, Anil urged the government to take immediate measures to bring down prices.

"The government must correct this. Onam is coming next week. In connection with this, the CM and ministers should listen to and see this carefully. This government should not go into the hands of traders. The system that enables providing goods to ordinary people at fair prices must be improved," Anil said.

He urged the government to strengthen market intervention measures and provide relief to the public during the festival season.