With prices of pulses remaining high despite the revision of VAT on it by Odisha government, the state administration today asked district collectors to impose strict laws against unscrupulous traders.
"If necessary, the unscrupulous traders may be booked under the provision of Essential Commodities Act and on the ground of Stock Holding Limit Control Order, 2010, and Odisha Declaration of Stock and Price of Essential Coomodities order, 1973," food supplies and consumer welfare secretary P K Mohapatra wrote to the collectors.
He asked the district collectors to convene a meeting of the traders to track source, wholesale and retail prices of different pulses and ensure their availability to the consumers at reasonable profit of margin for the traders.
He also asked the collectors to direct the civil supplies officials to monitor the prices till normalcy is restored.
Mohapatra said while price of arhar dal has gone down to an extent, prices of other pulses remained unchanged despite the VAT waiver.
Odisha government had reduced the VAT on pulses from 5 per cent to 1 per cent with effect from July 1 to help check spiraling prices of the food item, he said.
The high prices of pulses was due to drought and unseasonal rainfall in producing states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and other states, he added.
