The Odisha government on Wednesday admitted in the Assembly that prices of essential commodities have gone up in the state and said it is a "national issue".
The state government has created a corpus of Rs 100 crore in coordination with the Centre to control the rise of prices of some vegetables and items, Odisha's food supplies and consumer welfare minister R P Swain said.
"The government is aware of the rise of prices of essential commodities. It is a national issue," the minister said.
Replying to a question on the soaring prices of edible oil, pulses, potato and onion in the state, he said it is mostly due to the fact that "these items are being procured from other states".
"The state government has also created a corpus of Rs 100 crore in coordination with the Centre to regulate the prices of essential commodities," he informed the Assembly.
The government is in touch with wholesale traders constantly to control the prices of these commodities, and directed the authorities concerned to take action against hoarders, he said.
The minister said the government is also vigilant to prevent hoardings of items for which a storage control order has been issued to keep the prices of potato and onion under control.
He said onion is now being sold in fair price shops.
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