Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 7: Unable to regulate the prices of pulses in the state market after a sharp spike in the last 15 days, the state government Thursday urged the Centre to intervene and control the prices to check undue profit-making by importers.
“Appropriate authority at the Centre may be assigned the task to ensure that the information of landing prices of imported pulses be disseminated on a regular basis across the country to control the undue profit-taking by importers,” food supply and consumer welfare (FSCW) secretary Madhusudan Padhi wrote to the secretary of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution.
Prices of pulses like moong dal, arhar dal, gram dal, urad dal and masoor dal have increased by over 40 per cent compared to last year.
“There is inclusion of three types of pulses such as arhar, channa and urad in the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) product listing. Since NCDEX is dealing with determination of future price of pulses, the element of speculation might be there,” Padhi said.
“To reduce speculation, these commodities may be excluded from the NCDEX listing for the next six months or till the next crops arrive,” he wrote.
Stating that Orissa is mostly dependent on other states such as Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to meet its pulses demand, Padhi said the stiff rise in prices at source points reflected on all wholesale and retail markets of the state and was affecting the consumers.
“The supply position of pulses has deteriorated mainly due to unseasonal rains and it is learnt that import of pulses is being done in a big way to meet the supply shortfall,” the food secretary said. “As pulses are an essential commodity and are consumed by all sections of people, there is a need for controlling the price rise,” he said.
