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Nagpur: The politics of attack and counter-attack over prices of pulses refuses to die down with NCP City President and former Civil Supplies Minister Anil Deshmukh coming down heavily on State Government over the issue. Deshmukh claimed that nowhere in the markets the pulses are being sold at the rate of Rs 100 per kilogram.
“It is surprising that the Government is claiming since the past one month of bringing down the prices of the commodities. But the ground reality is totally different. The Government has given a free hand to hoarders to sell the pulses. The move smacks of “Dal me Kuch kala hai,” asserted Deshmukh.
“No poor is receiving tur dal at Rs 100 a kg. The previous Government had decided sell tur dal through PDS shops the moment prices climbed to Rs 90 per kg. This time also we had suggested to the Government to sell the pulses through PDS shops but the Government turned down our suggestions. Our Government had set up a price monitoring cell that decided prices of essential commodities from time to time but this Government has not formed the cell to date,” charged the NCP President.
According to Deshmukh, the increase in prices of pulses and the shortage of stuff is the direct result of stock limits. The storage limits for pulses were never in practice during previous Government’s rule. Now the situation is such that the pulses have vanished from markets and other hand ships laden with the stuff standing in the ports.
However, when the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar raised the issue the Government has withdrawn the order limiting the stocks of the pulses on November 2, stated Deshmukh and added that the policies of the present Government are flawed. If the state of affairs go on then the prices will never come down.
