Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday wrote to Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal seeking immediate steps to help state governments in mitigating the impact of consumers due to the increase in prices of essential food commodities.
Stalin also demanded that the Union Government allot 10,000 MT each of wheat and tur dal per month from the Central stock to sell them through cooperative outlets to cool the prices.
The chief minister said his government has taken 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).
“We also supply tur dal, sugar and palmolein every month at highly subsidized rates for all cardholders through PDS outlets. Our state is also supplying rice and wheat free of cost beyond the NFSA coverage through our Universal PDS mechanism,” Stalin told Goyal.
In spite of these efforts, the prices of the select essential food commodities have increased, as a part of the nationwide inflationary trend, Stain said, adding that the state government has floated bids for procuring some of the above items from domestic or foreign producers and they are in process.
Stalin’s letter came two days after he asked the government to sell tomatoes, small onions, and provisions, including select varieties of pulses, at subsidized prices at ration shops and increase their sales at Uzhavar Sandhai.
At a review meeting on Monday, Stalin had advised the Municipal Corporations and Horticulture Department to re-launch mobile vegetable shops, which were a hit during the Covid-19 induced lockdown, at places where they deem necessary. The review meeting was held to discuss the ways and means to provide relief to people suffering from sudden increase in prices of tomato, pulses, and onion among other vegetables.