Raids conducted against hoarders and pulses worth Rs190 crore seized in various part of Maharashtra
The central and state government has been unnecessarily creating pandemonium over the shortage of pulses. The reason behind this is not the hoarding, but bad weather and less produce.
Pravin Dongre, president of Indian Pulses and Grain Association told dna that the government is ready to buy tur at the rate of Rs 100-140 per kg, and masur at Rs 80 per kg. "We can supply almost one lakh pulses daily to the government and they can sell it to consumers through its public distribution system. Besides, tur consumption is only 2 million while chana is 9 million. There is no point in making a hue and cry over soaring rates of tur, which is less than 20% of consumption," said Dongre.
He said that the production of pulses has not only affected India, and that the situation is the same in Myanmar and Africa.
Meanwhile, the state government conducted raids against hoarders and seized pulses worth Rs190 crore in various part of the Maharashtra.
Commenting on action against hoarders, Dongre said that this it is not right to trouble traders in the name of hoardings. "There is no production and as a trader to hoard a little is not wrong. In fact, the government should revisit its decision of limiting stocking and importing only 350 tonne of pulses. A ship from Canada carries almost 50-to-60,000 metric tonnes of pulses so the 350 limit has no sense. We have already made agreements to buy buck-size pulses. The unilateral decision of the government will hamper business and international trading relations. Limiting the import decision will not ease soaring prices. In fact, it may shoot up," Dongre added.
"Raw pulses have to be cleaned and polished in mills and then brought to the market for selling and subsequently for consumption purpose. Raids against hoarders will not serve any purpose. On the contrary, it will create fear in the minds of the business community," he added. Most pulse processing units are based in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and Mumbai port handles more than 50 per cent of imported pulses.
A local trader told dna that due to shortage of pulses the agriculture product market committee witnesses a daily fight among the small traders.
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