The sarees which were supposed to be distributed to ration card holders in Tamil Nadu during Pongal festival are being sold for Rs 80 to Rs. 100 in various shops near Padmanabha Swamy temple, Balarama Puram and Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, according to a The Times of India report.
The reports says that Gokul of Ayanavaram in Chennai found that sarees at different shops had emblems of Tamil Nadu when he visited the Kasavumaalika handlooms on Thiruvallam Junction on Thiruvanthapuram-Kovalam national highway.
He told TOI, "The shopkeepers showed me several sarees, costing only Rs. 100. When I asked them from where they got these sarees they refused to tell me. They evasively admitted that they got these sarees from agents in Tamil Nadu."
One of the staff at the Kasavumaalika said that the sarees were brought from textile showrooms in Balarama Puram, according to TOI.
Gokul informed the officials about the illegal sales of the sarees, the officials responded by saying that they did not know anything about it.
They said that the people who received the sarees might have sold it to these shops in bulk.
"If people are getting the freebies, it's up to them whether they want to sell them or use them,” a senior officials told TOI.
The government does not have any laws regarding the distribution of freebies to people, another official is quoted as stating.