In an attempt to bring down prices of pulses during the Diwali festival, the State government has decided to auction 2.35 lakh tonnes of pulses confiscated from traders, who were illegally hoarding them, from November 4 to 6.
Officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Department seized pulses worth Rs. 2.35 crore in a raid on 1,308 wholesale and retail traders. The seized pulses included 30,000 quintals of toor dal, the prices of which had reached a high of Rs. 200 a kg a few days ago.
The seized pulses would be sold through the Cooperation Department’s e-auction platform to ensure availability of commodities in the market during the festival season.
Traders, who purchase pulses, have to release them in the market in the State within three days of completion of the auction. The Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Corporation as well as the Karnataka Oilseeds Corporation will participate in the bidding.
Transparent sale
On Sunday, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Dinesh Gundu Rao conducted a videoconference with Deputy Commissioners of all the districts and instructed them to auction seized pulses in a transparent manner to avoid any chances of legal battle in the future.
The income from the auction will be deposited in the bank. There are 34,000 traders in Karnataka.
Owing to raids and other measures, the price of toor dal had declined by Rs. 40 per kg in the last 10 days.
The officials will continue to crackdown on hoarding of pulses. Wholesale traders will be allowed to stock 200 tonnes of quintals.
No trader will be allowed to stock pulses more than five quintals without licences, Mr. Gundu Rao said. Following directions from the Centre, the department has stepped up vigil against pulses hoarding, which triggered the recent “irrational” spike in prices.
A delegation led by FKCCI president Tallam R. Dwarakanath called on the Minister and briefed him about the difficulties faced by millers and traders of pulses owing to the recent notification introducing licensing and raids.
“Our intention is not to harass traders, but activate market forces and tweak the mechanism to ensure sufficient supply of pulses in the market,” Principal Secretary of the department said.
