A Parliamentary panel has asked the government to take more effective steps to arrest rising prices of essential commodities.
The Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution expressed concern that except for a few items, prices of other essential commodities such as pulses and edible oils had shown a rising trend this year. “Despite measures taken by the central and state governments, prices of most essential commodities did not show a declining trend,” the committee said in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha yesterday.
It asked the department of consumer affairs to chalk out effective strategies in consultations with other departments, traders and the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) to keep prices in check.
Though state governments had been delegated powers for the enforcement of the Essential Commodities Act and the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, it was the responsibility of the central government to monitor the enforcement of these Acts, which it was hardly doing, the report said.
Lack of monitoring is evident from the fact that only six states have been giving monthly reports regarding the action taken under these Acts. “Despite the standing orders issued by the government to the states to submit monthly reports, only six states — Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — have furnished the information regarding detention orders issued by them during 2008, 2009 and 2010,” it said. It added that the consumer affairs department did not appear to have taken any action against the defaulting states.
The committee also found the number of raids conducted, number of persons arrested, prosecuted and convicted, and the value of goods confiscated during 2008, 2009 and 2010 were negligible. It wanted the government and the FMC to share the content of a study on ascertaining the percentage of small and marginal farmers benefited from futures trading, with states.