KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that instead of helping the state government, unfortunately, the central government is trying to cause financial stress to the state.

Central government is making a desperate attempt to strangle and suffocate Kerala economically. Although such measures are creating difficulties, the state government is trying to move the state forward without making the people suffer, he said. Chief Minister criticized the Center during the state-level inauguration of Consumerfed Onam Co-operative Markets. Chief Minister said that the public distribution system is in crisis and there is propaganda that there is nothing available there. Some of the media outlets that have the obligation to present the facts are the ones that report the news this way. People are convinced that all these campaigns are false.

The public distribution sector is stronger. About 40 lakh ration card holders buy goods from Supplyco. More than 1600 outlets are functioning in the state. Last year the average turnover rose to Rs 270 crore. It is a fact that Supplyco is selling 13 items at the same subsidized rate as in 2016, while other items are being sold at a discount as well. The attempt is to disparage the public distribution system of the state. This is at the stage where even administrators from outside the country are trying to learn about the public distribution system in Kerala. The rate of inflation is below the national average in Kerala. At the national level, prices of vegetables and food grains have increased steadily, with prices of vegetables increasing by 37.3 percent and prices of cereals and pulses increasing by 13 percent. Efforts should be made to stop this price rise, but there is a situation where interest burden is being imposed in our country, said the Chief Minister.