Ration dealers launch relay-hunger strike

Warangal: The members of Ration Dealers Welfare Association have launched relay-hunger strike on Wednesday in support of their demands. They staged the hunger-strike at Warangal Urban mandal tahsildar office, demanding to resolve their pending demands.

The association president G Gopal Rao and secretary L Venugopal, speaking on the occasion, complained that despite many appeals, the government failed to address their issues.

They wanted the State government to recognise ration dealers as government employees, ensure job security, clear off pending dues and offer honorarium. ‘There was no response from the government towards our demand of offering house plots or double bedroom houses to ration dealers,’ they said.

City Congress working president Rajanala Srihari extending solidarity to the ration dealers demanded the government to initiate immediate measures to address their genuine demands. The government must ensure honorarium of Rs 30,000 to the ration dealers along with health cards and insurance benefits.

The indifferent attitude of the government has thrown the ration dealers into a state of penury. It was sad that the government was not responding even though the dealers were staging protests for the past four years, Srihari lamented. Srihari cautioned that if the government failed to address the ration dealers’ issues, Congress would stage series of protests with the support of the public.