Essential Commodities Act to be made stringent for action against hoarders, Price Stabilization Fund for Market intervention proposed
The Conference of Food Ministers noting the importance of the government of India and the State Governments working together agreed to the following action plan and its effective implementation over the next six months. The six-month Action Plan will include the following elements:* The action plan will cover rice, jowar, bajra, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, moong dal, masoor dal, tuar dal and edible oils, bread, milk and eggs.
* The States will map vulnerable areas prone to supply shortages for special monitoring and ensure that stock-out situations do not occur especially for these items of common consumption.
* In areas where Coarse Cereals like Jowar, Bajra and Maize constitute the staple diet, close monitoring of the availability of these commodities and ensuring that the quality of the produce does not deteriorate in storage will be done.
* States will mobilize existing storage capacity utilizing the Government/private/cooperative storage infrastructure to ensure that adequate decentralized stocks are maintained across different cities/rural areas of the State to ensure adequate supplies of these commodities.
* During the six months period ahead, States will establish a Price Monitoring Cell that will monitor the prices of these specific commodities on the basis of wholesale prices at the mandies as well as the retail prices obtaining in various parts of the State. This should enable the states to make market interventions on a real time basis.
* States are encouraged to establish a revolving fund for buying products/produce in bulk and regulate their storage as well as distribution to meet peak demand during festival season at reasonable prices. This should be done through the Public Distribution System for the benefit of the BPL Card holders.
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* The Food and Civil Supplies Corporation of the State should partner with the network of Cooperative Societies to sell important essential commodities including through PDS shops to economically weaker Sections (Ration Card Holders and Green Card Holders) at reasonable prices.
* Senior Officers such as the District Commissioners/Collectors in the District and the Municipal Commissioners in the cities/towns may be designated as focal points for monitoring the availability and price levels of these commodities.
* Effective operations against hoarders and Black-marketeers will need to be taken. These steps should be swift and visible and the food grains stocks seized distributed through retail outlets of the Food and Civil Supplies Corporation.
* Essential Commodities Act to be made more stringent by making offences under the Act non-bailable. Necessary Amendments to the Essential Commodities Act need to be made.
* Onion will constitute a major challenge since five States: Maharashtra (28%), Madhya Pradesh (16%), Karnataka (14%), Andhra Pradesh (9%), Bihar (7%) account for 75% of the total production of onions. The onion whole-sale market is also controlled by a cartel of about 12-15 wholesalers across the country. The free inter-state movement, de-hoarding operations and decentralized stocking of onion to meet the dispersed demand across the country will be ensured. There is also need to maintain central stocks.
* Vegetables, fruits and other perishable commodities, which are price sensitive, will be removed from the ambit of the APMC Act. State Governments will take immediate action to issue appropriate notifications in this matter.
* In the interim, States will exempt these perishable commodities from the APMC yard taxes/local fees, if any, to provide some relief on pricing.
* The Government of India should consider setting up a 'Price Stabilization Fund' to enable states to undertake market intervention to tackle rise in prices of commodities of the common man's consumption.
The Central Government will coordinate implementation of the Action Plan closely with States. The Joint Secretary, Consumer Affairs, Government of India will be the National Focal Point and each State Government has been advised to designate the Commissioner of Food and Civil Supplies of the State as the State focal point for the effective price monitoring of essential commodities over the next six months.
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