38 food commodities on govt’s price radar

New Delhi: The Centre’s Department of Consumer Affairs is monitoring prices of 38 food commodities such as cereals, pulses, vegetables, edible oils, and spices to control the volatility in prices, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.

The retail sale of chana, moong, and masur Bharat Dal brands at subsidised prices is being done to ensure the availability of essential food items to consumers at affordable prices, the statement said.

Intervention is also being undertaken through the Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme to provide subsidised onions and tomatoes to consumers so that the inflation burden is reduced.

The Price Monitoring Division oversees the implementation of daily price monitoring of essential food commodities and price stabilisation interventions. The Department collects daily retail and wholesale prices of 22 essential commodities and retail prices of 16 additional commodities from 555 price reporting centres through a mobile app viz. Price Monitoring System (PMS), the statement said. These daily prices constitute critical inputs to take decisions purport to mitigate price surges, market intervention, restricting import-export duties and calibrating the monetary policy.

Under the Price Stabilisation Fund, the government undertakes market interventions to control the volatility in prices of agri-horticultural commodities such as onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and pulses to protect the interests of consumers.

Market interventions primarily involve procurement of these commodities for buffer stock and undertaking strategic market disposals to contain price volatility.