Crack down on hoarders, ensure food supplies: Centre to states

Fearing spurt in vegetable prices, the Centre today asked states to crackdown on hoarders, ensure adequate supplies and remove inter-state trade barriers even as it considers making a second import of pulses to cool prices.
Scrambling for efforts to check seasonal rise in prices of fruits and vegetables during the July-November period, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan held day long consultations with state food and consumer affair ministers while Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh sought to reassure of contingency plans being in place to tackle any situation arising out of rain deficiency.
At the meeting chaired by Paswan, a six-month action plan was chalked out to maintain supplies and check prices of pulses, edible oil, rice, onion, tomato and potato.

States were asked to monitor wholesale and retail prices of essential commodities and make market interventions on a real-time basis. They were also asked to amend Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act to remove inter-state trade barriers on staple fooditems like onions.
"We will not allow unreasonable increase in prices. The state governments should take stringent action to prevent hoarding and black marketing," Paswan said.
Action against hoarding and black-marketing should be taken by states, and they have also been directed to identify vulnerable areas where supply shortages occur and ensure that 'stock-out' situations do no occur especially of items of common consumption, he said.

The Union government on its part said it is considering import of 5,000 tons of urad dal, on top of a similar quantity of tur/arhar dal currently being imported.

Paswan said export price of onions has already been hiked to ensure domestic availability and price check.
"We do not want to create unnecessary panic. We do not want to impose inspector raj. We have given powers to states to act against hoarders," he said, adding that 24 states and UTs have been asked to roll out food security law by September.
Radha Mohan Singh assured of a contingency plan being in place in case of deficient rains, which irrigate 55 per cent of the crop in India.

"So far, monsoon rains were better than expected although there is a forecast of deficit rains this year too. Farmers need not panic. We are ready with contingency plans to tackle any possible impact of poor rains on kharif crops," he said.