Crackdown on hoarding, black marketing of essentials; enough food available: Centre to states

NEW DELHI: Centre on Friday asked states to crackdown on hoarding and black marketing of essential commodities to ensure there is no spike in prices amid the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan.During a meeting with state food secretaries, the govt asked them to pacify any anxiety among people of short supply and price rise effectively. Enough food is available and retail inflation has eased to a five-and-a-half-year low of 3.3%, mostly due to lower food prices, sources said.In letters to chief secretaries, the consumer affairs department has urged states to monitor prices of pulses, wheat, rice, vegetable, edible oil and other essential commodities.Giving details of food stocks with the govt, food and consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said current stocks of rice, wheat, edible oil and pulses are many times higher than the normal requirement, and there is “absolutely no shortage”. Citizens are advised not to panic or rush to markets to purchase food grains, he said. The minister said that any person indulging in hoarding or stockpiling shall be prosecuted under the Essential Commodities act.TOI has learnt that consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare held a detailed meeting with the state food secretaries and they were asked to take stern action against hoarding and profiteering by creating artificial shortage. They were also asked to ensure that every trader discloses details of pulses stock with them on the centralised portal. A similar system of disclosure is in place for edible oil also.PM Narendra Modi on Friday directed top officials to ensure smooth supply of essential items.In a statement, the food and consumer affairs ministry said the present rice stock is around at 356 lakh tonne against the buffer norm of 135 lakh tonne and wheat stock is 383 lakh tonne against the buffer norm of 276 lakh tonne. In addition, India currently holds approximately 17 lakh tonne of edible oil stocks. The availability of mustard oil is ample during the ongoing peak production season, further supplementing edible oil supply, it added.Executive director of the Solvent Extractors Association, BV Mehta, said they expect edible oil prices to fall because of robust crushing of mustard and international prices of palm oil.Data shows that the ongoing sugar season started with a carry-over stock of 79 lakh tonne and production is estimated at 262 lakh tonne, after accounting for the diversion of 34 lakh tonne for ethanol production.