Thiruvananthapuram, Saturday 16 January 2010: The charge levelled by Union Minister of State for Food K V Thomas that Kerala was diverting the Central quota of rice and wheat is “utterly baseless”, state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said.

“Not a single grain of rice given by the Centre for BPL and APL categories is going out of ration shops. The Centre has raised its price and the state is giving subsidy to provide the grains at a lower price to consumers,” he told reporters here.

He claimed that the Thomas’ allegation was aimed at directing the people’s ire over prices towards ruling LDF and covering “lapses” in Congress’ policies on PDS.

During Onam festival, the Centre had given a special quota of 35,000 tons of rice at Rs 13.88 per kg. Though the cost went up after handling charges, Kerala was selling it at Rs 13 per kg.