As pulses continued to soar to touch up to Rs 200 per kg, intelligence agencies were on Thursday asked to crack down on cartels, while futures trade was curbed to check speculation and buffer stock was hiked over 5-times to 8 lakh tonnes to boost supply in a multi-pronged approach.
Efforts were also beefed up to sell larger quantities of pulses at highly-subsidised rates through government agencies and outlets, but any favourable results were hardly visible in the retail and wholesale markets.
Urad dal was selling at as high as Rs 196 per kg, while chana was also seen moving closer to Rs 100 per kg level. Tur dal continued to rule high at Rs 166 per kg, while moong and masur were being sold at Rs 125 and Rs 105 per kg, respectively, as per the latest government data.
In some high-end markets in cities like Mumbai and Delhi, the prices of pulses were even higher. Taking forward the decisions taken at a high-profile meeting chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday, the Food Ministry decided to enhance the buffer stock of pulses from 1.5 lakh tonnes to 8 lakh tonnes. Meanwhile, there was a huge increase in prices of tomatoes as well.
DC Take: Controlling prices of essential commodities has been an Achilles heel of all the governments. The worst part is, whosoever is in power, it is the aam aadmi which is at the receiving end. It is not only various taxes which a common man has to pay. Spiralling costs of pulses and vegetables too add to his burden to no extent. It is the foremost duty of the government of the day to put adequate measures in place to fix the problem.
