FM unveils plan to control price rise

New Delhi, Dec. 11: Concerned over the rising prices of essential commodities, the government on Friday said it would strengthen and improve the public distribution system (PDS) to protect the interest of consumers.

“To insulate (common man) from the adverse impact of price rise we are improving the PDS system. This year the prices have not come down after the festival season,” the finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said while replying to a discussion on the first batch of supplementary demands for grants in the Lok Sabha.

According to recent data, food inflation during November shot up to over 19 per cent, the highest in the decade.

Attributing rising prices to shortage of supply, Mr Mukherjee said, “The price rise is not because of demand management... edible oils, sugar and pulses are the things most affected by the price rise.”

The minister also recalled various steps taken by the government to improve the supplies of essential foods items like pulses and sugar, the prices of which have shot up significantly during the course of the year.

The supplementary demands for grants, which was approved by the Lok Sabha, seeks to raise public expenditure by Rs 25,725 crore, over and above what was approved by Parliament during the budget.

Expressing his concern over the shortfall of pluses production in the country, Mr Mukherjee also mooted providing incentives to farmers for growing pulses, as even imports are getting scarce.

“I have suggested to the experts in consultation with the agriculture minister that whether you can come out with another package which can induce the farmers to go for larger production of the pulses,” he said in Lok Sabha while replying to a supplementary demand.

Mr Mukherjee said that the Centre had launched programmes in the late 1980 and early 1990 to boost pulses output, “but farmers did not buy it”.

According to estimates, pulses production has remained stagnant at around 13-15 MT during the last decade, while demand is pegged at 17-18 MT. The gap is met through imports.

The minister said a breakthrough was required in pulses production, through better varieties of seeds and technology.

“There is a net shortage of 4 MT and except Myanmar, Argentina and Turkey, no country has exportable surplus,” he said. Mr Mukherjee noted that the government has scrapped the import duty on pulses, but private traders are not importing due to high international prices.