MUMBAI: As tur daal continues to haunt consumers in Maharashtra at Rs 160 per kg, an investigation by The Sunday Standard reveals that though the Union government had intimated the state on the possible price rice of the essential commodity nearly six months ago, the state’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister Girish Bapat did not act on the matter.
The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution had been forewarning the state government since April 17 about the need to take steps on granting exemption on stock-holding limits, taking de-hoarding measures and on the abnormal rise in prices of pulses. The circulars reveal that Bapat chose to ignore the warnings.
The Centre had sent circulars on April 15, June 17, August 17, September 21 and the final one on October 9. On April 15, the Centre said the state was free to grant exemption on stock-holding limits to any particular trader if the prices of pulses, edible oil and edible oil seeds to producers (millers) are under control. In its second circular, dated June 17, the Centre once again asked the state to take effective steps in undertaking de-hoarding operations under the Essential Commodities Act (EC) 1955.
On August 17, it sent a reminder on extension or otherwise of extension of Central orders of September 30 about stock-holding limits. It added if there was no response from the state it would be presumed the state has no objection to extension of validity. In its letter dated September 21, it informed the state that essential commodities kept in regulated warehouses were being exempted from stock-holding limits under the EC Act 1955. It had also mandated that the warehouses will have to publish information of stocks available with them on a real-time basis.
G Viswanath, Secretary with Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, had written to all state governments, on June 10, asking them to take measures to contain the possible price rise “especially in the ensuring six months”.
However, the state government did not impose restrictions on stocking the pulses till Governor Vidyasagar Rao made it do so on October 19.
A reputed consumer body, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP), has begun a probe to find out whether there was any scam behind the “artificial” price rise of pulses.
“We are in the process to calculate the loss suffered to the consumers when they paid Rs 220 for one kg daal till last week,” MGP Chairman Shirish Deshpande said.
There is speculation that traders earned around Rs 4,000 crore because of the price rise. Deshpande said MGP was investigating whether consumers suffered the loss because the government was indeed unaware of the situation or was “willfully ignorant”.
The state government’s inability to invoke the amendment in The Essential Commodities Act 1955 has also surprised the consumer protection activists.
When asked about the inordinate delay and callous approach of his department towards Centre’s circulars, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Girish Bapat, said, “I have received the Centre’s letters late. We immediately then had approached the Cooperation and Marketing department which had informed us that the inflow of pulses in the market was less and that the new stocks of pulses were to arrive. The traders were asked to route the newly arrived imported pulses in the market to bring down the prices”.
Deshpande, however, discarded Bapat’s claim. “I personally had handed over the Centre’s correspondence to him.” A Raj Bhavan source backed Deshpande’s claim. “The Governor had sent a special officer to the Mantralaya to get the orders on limiting stock of the pulses issued. He had warned the government not to add fuel to the fire,” the source said.