Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday said that his department had “no concrete power” to rein in the prices of essential commodities and vegetables — a remark that was picked up by the Congress to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The Consumer Affairs Department does not have any concrete power to check food inflation,” Mr. Paswan told reporters here.
The Department monitors the prices of 22 essential food items and it can ask States to impose stockholding limits and issue directions to carry out de-hoarding operations. “If a senior leader like Paswan is saying that he has no concrete power... the responsibility lies squarely on the Prime Minister if one understands Modi’s style of functioning,” party spokesman Meem Afzal told reporters.
The prices of pulses, onion, tomato and peas have risen sharply in the past few weeks, hurting household budgets and prompting Mr.Paswan to say that his department (Consumer Affairs) did not have any concrete powers to check food price hike.
Taking a dig at Mr.Modi for his frequent foreign tours, Mr.Afzal said that he should do so, but at the same time, ensure that the problems faced by the common man at home were solved. He suggested that Mr.Paswan’s remarks were reflective of the problems within the NDA in the backdrop of the victory of the grand alliance headed by Nitish Kumar in the Bihar Assembly poll.
Facing flak for the abnormally high prices of pulses this year, Mr. Paswan has decided to informally meet the Secretaries of the Departments concerned, including those of Agriculture, Commerce and Finance, for better coordination in decision-making.
Although the Minister did not elaborate on his comment, it is learnt that the department is seeking more powers in terms of assessing likely production shortages and taking steps for bridging the gap between supply and demand.
