Allot 10000 MT Each Of Wheat, Tur Dal For Distribution Through Cooperative Outlets: Stalin To Piyush Goyal

The CM said that the increase in prices of many essential food commodities including rice, wheat, tur dal, urad dal and vegetables like tomato has burdened poor and middle-class families immensely. 

The CM also listed the efforts of the government to subsidize the prices and mentioned about the detailed review meeting held on the issue on July 10.  ( Image Source :PTI )

In order to cool the rising prices of essential commodities, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin wrote to Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal demanding to allot 10000 MT each of wheat and tur dal per month from the central stock so that these items could be sold through cooperative outlets. The CM also sought the immediate intervention of the Minister in this regard.

In the letter, CM Stalin said, "I would like to draw your kind attention to the worrying trends witnessed in food inflation and urge you to take immediate steps to help the State Governments in mitigating the impact of the consumers." 

The CM said that the increase in prices of many essential food commodities including rice, wheat, tur dal, urad dal and vegetables like tomato has burdened poor and middle-class families immensely. 

"Already the inflation rate, as released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program implementation, was high at 12.65% for cereals and products and 6.56% for pulses and products, during the month of May 2023. The recent surge is likely to substantially worsen this situation," he said.

The CM also listed the efforts of the government to subsidize the prices and mentioned about the detailed review meeting held on the issue on July 10. 

In spite of these efforts, he said, "The prices of the select essential food commodities have increased, as a part of the nationwide inflationary trend."

As a result, the CM said that they have floated bids for procuring some of the items from domestic or foreign producers. He also requested to expedite Union government’s efforts to import these products, in view of the shortage in domestic production.

Meanwhile, the price of tomatoes has also reached over Rs 100/kg.