State demands 28,000 mt tur dal from Centre

The Maharashtra government has demanded 28,000 mt of tur dal (pigeon pea) from the Centre as production has gone down, pushing up prices to Rs 200 per kg. The state has also decided to make tur dal available to 70 lakh BPL (below poverty line) families through the Public Distribution System (PDS). This is the second time that the state is facing a severe shortage of tur dal due to deficient production.

“We have demanded 28,000 mt of tur dal from the Centre, as it is going to export dal for all states. The state production is also very low this time and we will have to wait till December for the next crop,” said an official from the food and civil supplies department.

A person requires 40 gm tur dal per day and daily consumption of the state is 2,500 mt of tur dal per day, the official added. He admitted that tur dal prices were causing other dal prices to soar.

The state is also going to make available one kg of tur dal to each BPL family through PDS. “We are going to give one kg of tur dal each to 70 lakh BPL families through PDS. It will cost them Rs 120 per kg and cover a population of four crores,” said the official. This is the first time that the state government is going to make available pulses through PDS.

On action against hoarding, the official said that the government was conducting raids and seizing pulses if they were found to exceed the stocking limit.

“But considering the soaring prices, businessmen too are not stocking too many pulses. We have also issued guidelines last year on who can stock how much of pulses,” he said. After receiving complaints of hoarding, the state had seized a large chunk of pulses last year that were auctioned off later.

In lieu of the shortage of pulses and consequent rise in prices, the state has proposed an act to curb growing prices of pulses. After approval from the state cabinet, the draft has been sent to the President for his nod. However, the process will take some time till the act comes up for implementation, said the official.