MADURAI: Countering DMK President MK Stalin’s allegations on hike in the prices of groceries and vegetables, Minister for Revenue, Disaster Management and Information Technology RB Udhayakumar said that State government has been taking all necessary steps to regulate the market price.
“Stalin is revealing the details of his video conference meetings with his partymen only to gain media attention,” he alleged.
The minister said that 21 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had been procured till April 10 from 2,061 paddy procurement centres established in the State, while 7 lakh tonnes of paddy are expected to be procured by the end of the year.
“Between April 10, 2018, and April 10, 2019, there were only 1,766 procurement centres through which 18.56 lakh metric tonnes were procured. The 28 lakh metric tonnes would be procured by the end of 2020, and it would be a record in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
He said that more than 9,915 mobile vans have been home delivering 5,478 metric tonnes of vegetables and fruits across the State. “This led to regulation in market price of fruits and vegetables. Besides, there is no shortage of vegetables anywhere in the State,” the minister said.
Owing to the subsidies given by the government, the storage in regulatory markets has increased from 69,698 metric tonnes to 90,739 tonnes in a year. Also, the product loan has shot from Rs 3 crore to Rs 4.14 crore. The transaction at regulatory markets have also risen to 3,278 metric tonnes, he said.
Min lauds works
Udhayakumar inspected the COVID-19 Emergency Operation Centre on Thursday and lauded the efforts being taken by the district administration, civic body, police and health departments in combating the pandemic. Addressing media persons, he said, “Owing to the population density in urban areas, it is hard to ensure that people are abiding by the social distancing norms. However, the interdepartmental team has decentralised the market areas and other public places to ensure social distancing.”