Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has withdrawn the extension given until January 5 to distribute the ration goods for the month of December.

However, those who could not buy their December share under the Pradhan Manthri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) of the Central Government will have the facility to buy the same till January 10.

The ration shops have been given a holiday today to complete the technical formalities for the same.

Minister G R Anil said Monday, Jan 2, was the last date for supply of ration for the previous month. Earlier, the Food and Civil Supplies Department had extended the last date for ration distribution for the month of December till January 5.

The Minister explained that in light of the Central Government's free ration scheme for priority ration card members, the State Government was not extending the December ration distribution.

The Minister also declared a holiday for ration shops today.

The Minister added that the normal ration in January and the December PMGKAY distribution to those who could not buy it in December will be done from tomorrow.

In late November, the authorities had regulated the working hours of ration shops in various districts to tackle repeated delays in OTP generation on the registered mobile numbers after frequent breakdowns in the ration E-POS (electronic point of sale) network.

Dealers can sell ration items to card holders only after biometric verification on the E-POS machines installed at the shops.

Working hours
The following would be the working hours of ration shops in Kerala during the current week (Till January 7):

8 am to 1 pm in Ernakulam, Kozhikode,

Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Kottayam, Kasaragod and Idukki districts.

2 pm to 7 pm in Malappuram, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad districts.