Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan exhorted state governments to buy pulses and onions from the Central buffer to check price rise and to ease pressure on prices.
He also stressed on the need for the creation of a price stabilisation fund in each state.
Paswan, the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution was speaking to reporters after holding the Fifth National Consultation Meeting of state ministers, secretaries and other officials of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs at Vigyan Bhawan here.
Interacting with all the participants in a free and open manner to seek their suggestions on various new initiatives of the Ministry, he held wide-ranging discussions on consumer empowerment, protection and welfare, national portability of ration cards and automation of fair price shops.
The Union Minister also sought inputs from state governments on simplification of the Essential Commodities Act, in general, to boost investments specifically in the agricultural sector and also penal provisions to make it more attuned to government's policy regarding "Ease of doing business".
Paswan highlighted the fact that all states are now covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), as compared to just 11 states in 2014 and emphasised on the need for larger state participation in rice fortification scheme as well as the portability of ration cards.
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He asked the officials from Jammu and Kashmir to give their requirements under NFSA so that the requisite food grains can be stocked up before the onset of winters.
"During winters, due to bad weather, transportation of food grains becomes difficult and therefore they were requested to provide their demand in advance," an official statement said.
The Union Minister expressed happiness that state governments widely participated in the event and discussed the implementation of several key initiatives of the government.
The meeting emphasised that empowering and protecting consumers is the joint responsibility of both the Centre and the state governments and achievement of this objective entails coordinated action between both.
An action plan was also adopted for year 2020 at the meeting.
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