Odisha urges Centre to regulate rising prices of pulses

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 7:

The Odisha government today urged the Centre to regulate the spiralling prices of pulses.

In a letter to the secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs of the Union government, commissioner-cum-secretary, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Madhusudan Padhi said while there has been over 40 percent rise in the prices of different pulses like Moong dal, Arhar dal (Tur dal), Gram dal, Urad dal and Masoor dal compared to last year, the rise has been particularly steep in the last 15 days.

Since Odisha is primarily dependent on major pulse producing states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to meet the demand of its consumers, the steep rise in the price of these pulses at the source points has reflected in all wholesale and retail markets of the state and adversely affected the consumers, Padhi said.

Stating that import of pulses is being done in a big way to meet the shortfall in supply since supply of pulses has deteriorated mainly due to unseasonal rains, he requested the Union secretary to assign the task to appropriate authority to ensure that the information of landing prices of imported pulses be disseminated on a regular basis across the country to check undue profit-making by the importers.

Pointing out that there is inclusion of three varieties of pulses like Tur, Channa and Urad dal in the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) product listing, Padhi said since NCDEX deals with determination of future price of pulses, the element of speculation might be there.

To reduce such speculation, these commodities may be either excluded from the NCDEX listing for the next six months or till the next crops arrive.

“As pulses are essential commodities and consumed by all sections of people, there is a need for controlling the prices. Considering this, I request your kind intervention in the matter,” Padhi said.