Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday asked the officials to keep a strict watch on prices of essential commodities in the States and Union territories.

The Minister asked them to ensure that adequate stock of relevant commodities be maintained to create a buffer to cushion the unusual price shocks and keep prices stable.

He said that the Provisions of Essential Commodities Act to be enforced by States if any Miller, Wholesaler or Retailer tries to take undue advantage of the COVID-19 situation and hoards the essential commodities. Mr. Goyal stated this while reviewing the provisions for keeping the prices of essential commodities in check.

He said, the department is already monitoring prices of all 22 essential commodities by collecting data from 157 centres of 34 states and union territories and to look for any early signs of unusual price rise. In a recent meeting, Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nandan had directed state officials to take steps to maintain prices of essential commodities at fair levels.

To check hoarding, stockholders of pulses like millers, traders, importers, etc were directed to declare their stocks. To boost supply of pulses and curb further price rise, the commerce ministry had recently changed the import policy to ease supply.

State governments have been asked to monitor the prices of pulses on a weekly basis. Pulse producing states were also requested to facilitate sustained procurement to incentivize farmers to cultivate pulses on a long-term basis.

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