Aimed at preventing farmers from resorting to distress sale of urad dhal (black gram), the State government has directed its agencies to procure it directly from farmers and fixed the procurement price at Rs. 38 per kg.
A communication was sent by the Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department about 10 days ago to Managing Director of the Civil Supplies Corporation, Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Special Officer of the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation (TANFED).
The rate of Rs. 38 would include realisation of incentive of Rs. 5 from the Union government, according to the communication.
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According to a letter from the Directorate of Economics of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation in the Union Ministry of Agriculture, the current year's minimum support price for pulses is Rs. 33.
The amount of Rs. five, given to procuring agencies as incentive, would also be passed on to the farmers.
At the point of retail sale through fair price shops, one kg of urad dhal is given to holders of family cards at Rs. 30 per kg.
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The distribution of urad dhal is made as part of the State government's scheme of special public distribution system. On an average, the State's monthly requirement of urad dhal is 10,500 tonnes. Other condiments such as toor dhal and palmolein oil are procured by the State government through several sources, including open market and the Centre's agencies.
In January, the State government released Rs. two crore for the procurement of chillies and tamarind.
In a move to help the differently abled, the State Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department issued an order a couple of weeks ago, sanctioning Rs. 90 lakh as interest-free loans through cooperative banks. This would enable the differently abled to take up various economic activities . The government would absorb interest loss to be incurred by the cooperative institutions.
This follows a directive given by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.