Kozhikode: The Centre’s decision on the demand of the State Government to extend the ration mustering deadline is awaited. If the Centre does not approve the same, the ration distribution will be affected. 

The State, however, has instructed to continue the ration distribution even if the mustering is not completed. 

The Centre had directed the pink and yellow cardholders to do the mustering within March 31. It has also given related directions to the State as well, following which measures for mustering started. However, the process could not be completed in a time-bound manner. 

As many as 1.34 crore people coming under 35.92 lakh pink cards and 20.05 lakh people under 5.9 lakh yellow cards have to complete mustering. Initially, when fewer people started mustering, there was no hindrance. However, the mass entry later led to server issues. 

Even when mustering was carried out after ceasing the ration distribution, the attempt failed owing to the overload in the server. The NIC and IT Mission requested more time to complete the process, following which the State has asked for time till June 30 to the Centre. 

Meanwhile, ration shop owners held failure on the part of the State responsible for the halt in mustering. When the same was almost completed in other States, Kerala initiated the process on short notice, they alleged. The frequent server-related issues also affected the procedure.