Stalin urges Goyal to allot 10k MT of wheat, tur dal to state
Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin requested Union minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday to allot 10,000 MT each of wheat and tur dal every month from the central stock so that these items can be sold through state cooperative outlets to “cool the prices”
Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin requested Union minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday to allot 10,000 MT each of wheat and tur dal every month from the central stock so that these items can be sold through state cooperative outlets to “cool the prices.”
The increased prices in tomatoes, rice, wheat, tur dal, urad dal has burdened the poor and middle-class families, Stalin said, requesting the Union government to expedite efforts to import these products owing to the shortage in the domestic market.
“I would like to draw your kind attention to the worrying trends witnessed in food inflation and urge you to take immediate steps to help the State Governments in mitigating the impact of the consumers,” Stalin said in his letter.
He added that the Tamil Nadu government was selling vegetables and essential commodities at subsidised prices through its cooperatives, “Our Government is taking up various short-term and long-term price intervention measures like supplying vegetables, food grains and pulses well below the open market price through cooperative outlets and Uzhavar Sandhais (Farmers’ Markets).”
Stalin held a review meeting on the matter on July 10 and issued various instructions regarding supply of vegetables, groceries through the super markets, fair price shops run by the Cooperative Department and Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation.
“We have floated bids for procuring some of the above items from domestic or foreign producers and they are in process,” Stalin said. “In the meanwhile, supply from the central stock can ease the situation. Hence, I request you to allot 10000 MT each of wheat and tur dal per month from the central stock. These items will be sold through cooperative outlets to cool the prices. I urge your immediate intervention in this regard.”
Through the state’s Public Distribution System (PDS), tur dal, sugar and palmolein is being sold at highly subsidised rates every month for all ration cardholders. Rice and wheat are supplied free of cost beyond the National Food Security Act (NFSA) coverage through PDS, Stalin said adding that regular monitoring of stock limits of essential commodities is being done as per the directions of Government of India.
“In spite of these efforts, the prices of the select essential food commodities have increased, as a part of the nationwide inflationary trend,” the Tamil Nadu chief minister said.
Stalin citied the inflation rate, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program implementation, which “was high at 12.65% for cereals and products and 6.56% for pulses and products” in May concerned that the recent surge is likely to “substantially worsen this situation.”
