Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister Girish Bapat has sought an "explanation" for the spiralling prices of pulses including dal from the secretary of his department.
He has also sought a detailed report on the action plan to control the prices of dal in seven days.
"The Centre in June this year had warned states about possibility of rising prices of dal. But still, till October no action was taken," Bapat was quoted as saying in the letter he has written to Deepak Kapoor, the secretary.
The minister has sought an "explanation" from the secretary on issues like inability to bring down the dal prices, not bringing the stocks of seized dal in the market at the earliest after the raids, for taking action against go-down owners instead of hoarders.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Radhkrishna Vikhe Patil said Bapat's letter to Food and Civil supply secretary blaming him for the rise in dal price is totally unacceptable.
"The (Maharashtra) Chief Minister should take Bapat's resignation, suspend the concerned secretary and order an inquiry into the dal price issue," he said.
Vikhe Patil also demanded that the state government should not auction the seized dal but sell it at Rs 10/kg.
