(a) whether the Government has prepared/is preparing any list of essential foodgrains fruits, daily utility goods and food items for special monitoring to check frequent fluctuation in their prices;
(b) if so, the details of the products proposed to be covered;
(c) if not, the reasons therefor; and
(d) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to tackle such regular price fluctuations?
THE MINISTER FOR
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI RAM VILAS PASWAN)
(a) to (c) : Prices of 22 select essential commodities are already being monitored on daily basis by the Department of Consumer Affairs. These include Foodgrains like price and wheat, Pulses like gram, tur, urad, moong and masur, Edible oils like groundnut oil, mustard oil, vanaspati, soya oil, sunflower oil, and palm oil, Vegetables like potato, onion and tomato, and Other items like sugar, gur, milk, atta, tea, and salt.
(d) : The steps taken by the Government to tackle price fluctuations include appropriate policy measures for improving availability and ensuring stability in prices of essential commodities such as facilitating import of various items of mass consumption at zero or concessional import duties together with restrictions on export, fixation of Minimum Export Price (MEP) for onions, regulation of price volatility through assistance under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) Scheme, prescribing stock holding limits under Essential Commodities Act, allocation of foodgrains at affordable prices under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) etc.
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