The state’s demand for 28,000 tonnes of tur dal from the Centre has gone unanswered for over a month. A letter sent to the Centre sent a month ago is yet to get response.
The state’s demand for 28,000 tonnes of tur dal from the Centre has gone unanswered for over a month. A letter sent to the Centre sent a month ago is yet to get response. The tur dal of 7,000 tonnes that is lying in the godowns cannot be used because the state government, the food and civil supplies department said, does not own it.
The state is still facing shortage of tur dal and the price has not come down. The state government has also planned to move an act to control the prices of pulses after the tur dal touched to Rs 200 per kg in retail market. The government will decide the prices of pulses region-wise and the shopkeepers will have to sell at these prices only, or else punitive action will be taken.
“We have written to the Centre last month demanding 28,000 tonnes of tur dal for Antyodaya scheme and the people below the poverty line. We will distribute it at ration shops once we get the stock,” an official from the food and civil supplies department said.
Every family in the state needs around two kg of tur dal per month. But the overall low production of tur dal has created shortage from last year. The food and civil supplies department also raided illegally hoarded stock of the pulses. However, the stock was not brought to the market immediately, which could have reduced the prices.
The opposition has alleged that stock of 7,000 tonne tur dal is lying in the godowns but the government is not distributing it. “The 7000 tonnes of dal was ordered by the state a few months back. The government should bring that tur dal in the market to reduce the prices,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.
However, the official from the food and civil supplies department said that the tur dal is not owned by the state government. “First of all, it’s not tur dal but whole tur. It belongs to the Food Corporation of India and not owned by the state. We cannot distribute it,” he said.
The Agriculture Ministry has again predicted low production of tur dal due to drought, which has made the state’s plight worse.
