The common man who is already grappling with rising inflation won’t get any relief as he has to shell out more money for buying an essential commodity like tur dal.
The Fadnavis government had announced that tur dal will be available at Rs 100 at retail shops but lentils continue to sell at Rs 180 to Rs 200 per kg in the city. The common man who is already grappling with rising inflation won’t get any relief as he has to shell out more money for buying an essential commodity like tur dal. Tur Dal prices have risen significantly since last two months but the government has failed to control price rise. Thus it’s a bleak Diwali for Mumbaikars who are finding it difficult to make both ends meet. Earlier the Shiv Sena had submitted a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis questioning him about his assurance of controlling pulses prices.
NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said, “The government is misleading the common man by making announcement that tur dal prices will stabilise. How will prices come down when the government is hand in glove with the hoarders? Strict action must be taken against hoarders to control price rise.”
Amar Seth, a Kandivali resident said, “When I heard that tur dal will be available at Rs 100 per kg I was very pleased. However, after visiting the shop I learnt that pulses prices are yet to fall. Even though the government had taken action against hoarders and seized lumpsum stocks but the common man doesn’t derive any benefit out of it.”
Rahul Deshmukh, a Borivali resident said, “The government only gives false assurance to people that pulses prices will dip but it doesn’t happen. There is lack of proper mechanism to arrest the price rise.”
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, announced that he will send Tur dal boxes as Diwali gift to all Maharashtra ministers. Vikhe-Patil, who held the agriculture portfolio during the Congress-NCP regime, said,“Tur Dal prices have not fallen and it is still selling at Rs 180 per kg. The government is only making announcements to sell tur dal at Rs 100 per kg to please the common man but they have failed to implement it. We had also asked the government to offer the seized dal to fair price outlets for providing some relief to the people. However, the government has instead diverted the same stock to traders.”
“When prices of vegetables were high during our regime, I ordered to open outlets across the city. The state government does not have to make any investment. We ordered APMC and vegetable suppliers to regulate prices. It worked” he added.
Mumbai NCP President, Sachin Ahir said he himself will present a one kg packet of all pulses to Fadnavis and all the cabinet members on Friday. “I will deliver these packets at the official residence of the CM and all the cabinet members in Mumbai.”
Vikhe-Patil said Shiv Sena has control over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and instead of waiting for the state government, the party should itself take measures to provide relief to the common man, by opening its treasury.
The state government has seized 46,397 metric tonnes of tur dal through 2,492 raids conducted across the state in the last two weeks. Maharashtra, which accounts for almost 35 per cent of pulses cultivation in the country, has faced major shortfall due to drought and hailstorm.
