2 min readNew DelhiFeb 23, 2015 02:35 AM IST
First published on: Feb 23, 2015 at 02:27 AM IST
The idea is to ensure that retailing is done at reasonable prices.
Budgeting for the summer, the Delhi’s department of Food and Civil Supplies (FCS) may scale up its plan to stock up food items through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).
As prices of foodgrains are expected to rise between May and September, the department, following a review meeting with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, plans to ask NAFED and the Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) to procure food items from producing states.
“The idea is to ensure that retailing is done at reasonable prices. We will work out the modalities to bring prices under control. Usually prices escalate after May and fall after September. The plan is to control the price rise from May to August,” a government official said.
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In June 2014, Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung too had asked NAFED to purchase onion on behalf of Delhi government to build up stock. He had also asked SAFAL outlets to double their stock and the government ran about 60-70 mobile vans to sell onions.
While the same method may be adopted this year, government officials said it may be done on a much larger scale.
Development minister Gopal Rai had the effort was to cut down the price escalation between buying a farmer’s produce and its purchase by a consumer.
“We will down all barricades that lead to increase in the prices of vegetables. With summer arriving soon, prices of some goods are expected to rise but we are trying to control these prices,” Rai said
The idea is to ensure that retailing is done at reasonable prices.
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