Published Jul 13, 2023 | 1:14 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 13, 2023 | 1:14 PM
Union Minister Piyush Goyal and TN Chief Minister MK Stalin. (Piyush Goyal/ Facebook)
The Tamil Nadu government has urged the Centre to allot 10,000 metric tonnes (MT) each of wheat and tur dal per month from the central stock so that these could be sold through cooperative outlets to cool prices.
Writing to Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal, Chief Minister MK Stalin underlined the “worrying trends in food inflation”, and requested him to take immediate steps to help the state governments mitigate the impact on consumers.
The increase in prices of many essential food commodities has burdened poor and middle-class families immensely.
Already the inflation rate, as released by the Ministry of Statistics, was high at 12.65 percent for cereals and products and 6.56 percent for pulses and products, during May 2023. The recent surge is likely to substantially worsen the situation.
Referring to the review meeting he held in Chennai on the issue on 10 July, Stalin said the state government has floated bids for procuring some of the essential items from domestic or foreign producers.
The chief minister requested Goyal to expedite the Union government’s efforts to import such products in view of the shortage in domestic production.
In the letter sent on Wednesday, 12 July, he wrote, “In the meanwhile, supply from the central stock can ease the situation. Hence, I request you to allot 10,000 MT each of wheat and tur dal per month from the central stock. These items will be sold through cooperative outlets to cool the prices. I urge your immediate intervention in this regard.”
I have written to Hon’ble @PiyushGoyal to draw his kind attention to the worrying trends in food inflation. Prices of essential commodities have burdened the poor and middle-class families. Our government has implemented short-term and long-term interventions to address this… pic.twitter.com/WYW1qvyObf
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) July 12, 2023
He further wrote, “The Tamil Nadu government was taking up various short-term and long-term price intervention measures like supplying vegetables, food grains and pulses well below the open market price through cooperative outlets and Uzhavar Sandhais (Farmers’ Markets).”
About the Public Distribution System (PDS), he said, “We also supply tur dal, sugar and palmolein every month at highly subsidised rates for all cardholders through PDS outlets.”
Explaining further, the chief minister said, “Our state is also supplying rice and wheat free of cost beyond the NFSA (National Food Security Act) coverage through our Universal PDS mechanism. Further, regular monitoring of stock limits of tur dal, urad dal, moong dal, gram dal, masoor dal and wheat is also being done as per the directions of the Government of India.”
In spite of these efforts, the prices of select essential food commodities have increased as part of the nationwide inflationary trend.
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