Govt to distribute subsidised pulses through postal network

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 14

The government on Friday decided to use postal network for distribution of subsidised pulses and release more chana from buffer stock to ensure availability of these commodities at reasonable prices during the ongoing festival season.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on prices of essential commodities

The committee reviewed availability and prices of essential commodities, especially pulses, and suggested that in the absence of government outlets in the states, postal networks should be used for the distribution.

It was observed that there are declining trends in the prices of pulses in recent weeks while prices of some of the other commodities are also stable.

The committee also reviewed procurement arrangements of kharif pulses by government agencies. It was informed that so far 500 procurement centres have been opened and farmers are being paid through check or bank transfer instantly. The government has set up procurement target of 50,000 MT for current kharif pulses.
The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Ministry/Department of Agriculture, Food, Commerce, Revenue, MMTC, and NAFED.