Deepavali: Tirunelveli rolls out ₹200 grocery bags at 128 rural cooperative shops
Tirunelveli District Collector Anand Mohan on Friday inaugurated the sale of grocery bags at subsidised prices through cooperative society shops in the rural areas of the district, ahead of Deepavali. Officials said the sale had been arranged in view of the sharp increase in the prices of grocery items in recent months.
Inaugurating the sale at the Ambasamudram Agriculture Cooperative Society shop, in the presence of Tirunelveli MLA R. S. Murughan, the Collector said each bag containing 10 grocery items was being sold for ₹200.
The bag contains 250 grams of split Bengal gram, 250 grams of moong dhal, 100 grams of chilli, 150 grams of coriander, 150 grams of garlic, 250 grams of tamarind, 100 grams of mustard seed, 100 grams of split black gram, 50 grams of cumin seeds and 50 grams of fennel seeds. The items together weigh 1.40 kg.
The sale will be conducted through 128 cooperative society shops in the rural areas of the district. It is available only in rural areas and not within the Corporation limits.
“These grocery items will not be sold separately. The consumers need not produce ration cards for buying these grocery items and hence the consumers can buy the groceries according to their needs. The cooperative sub-registrars have been designated as monitoring officers for each area for supervising this sale,” the Collector said.
Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies Murugesan was present at the inauguration.
Separately, in Tenkasi district, District Collector Monika Rana inaugurated the sale of groceries at subsidised cost at the Melagaram Cooperative Society Supermarket. Tenkasi, which borders Tirunelveli, became a separate district in 2019. The items included in the Tenkasi bag and the price fixed there were not stated in the announcement.
The timing of the sale matters to households in the region. Deepavali is celebrated across Tamil Nadu with families preparing sweets and savouries at home and stocking provisions such as lentils, spices and tamarind. Demand for these items usually rises in the weeks leading up to the festival.
Cooperative societies run retail outlets in rural parts of Tamil Nadu and are often used by the state machinery to distribute essential commodities at controlled prices. Since this scheme runs through these societies rather than the public distribution system, buyers are not required to produce ration cards, and the purchase is not linked to any monthly entitlement.
The Collector said the cooperative sub-registrars would supervise the sale in their respective areas.
Details on how long the sale will continue and the quantity of stock set aside for it were not announced at the inauguration. Residents of rural areas covered by the 128 shops can buy the bags from their nearest cooperative society outlet.
The public distribution system supplies rice, sugar and other staples against ration cards, whereas the festival bags are bought at a fixed price by any consumer who walks into a participating shop.
