India has been experiencing an abnormal surge in prices of certain foodstuffs like onions, pulses and mustard oil.
It is understood that onions have somewhat come in control, however the price rise in pulses and mustard oil continues due to shortage.
However, since mustard oil is primarily limited to West Bengal, and pulses concern the whole nation, a prime focus has been to make available pulses at ‘reasonable’ prices to consumers.
In this instance, where pulses have been hovering around Rs.200 per kg, a price band of 110-140 is now considered ‘reasonable’ (from Rs.40-75 last year).
For this, various state governments have started giving subsidised pulses through their fair price shops.
The latest to join this group is the eastern state of Odisha, which is planning to sell pulses within 110-140 per kg in five cities to start with, including Bhubhaneshwar, Cuttack, Balasore, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Behrampur, with other cities being added in later phases.
