When Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi recently claimed in the Lok Sabha that dal prices were upwards of Rs 200 per kg, and the Modi government had done precious little to check the prices, he was both right and wrong. Wrong because the rising trend in dal prices compared to the last quarter has been arrested. Right because relative to last year, dal prices are still 60 per cent higher.
Since some 14,480 raids across the country in the months of September, October and November, when some 1.34 lakh metric tonne of pulses were seized, the dal prices have showed a downward trend and the prices of arhar dal and urad dal have come down to around Rs 140 per kg from the peak price of Rs 200 per kg, according to a recent reply by Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in Parliament.
But the pulses’ crisis has not blown over yet. Consumer Affairs Ministry officials told Businessworld that the crisis may worsen in times to come, with the demand and supply mismatch in the country set to widen.
India is the largest producer, largest consumer and largest importer of pulses. Government officials say that while the production of pulses this year will more or less be equal to last year’s (of around 18.5 million tonnes), the demand will be much higher (more than 22 million tonnes).
What is different, however, that the Union government is better prepared and equipped to handle any crisis. It is contemplating a host of steps so that any dal shortage doesn’t trigger public outrage.
For one, during the October -December peak festive season (which also coincides with the marriage season) the government plans to distribute some quantity of dal through PDS shops. Some states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Rajasthan are already doing it.
Two, the Centre has asked the states to keep ready a data management system of importers, millers, wholesale traders and retailers dealing in dal, and monitor the flow of lentils in the market. A meeting of food ministers has been convened for March-end to make them prepared for any crisis situation. The Centre also proposes to hold a monthly video conference with the states’ principal secretaries to review the pulses stock.
Three, channels for active imports of pulses have been set in motion. Newer centres like Canada for the import of yellow lentils are also being explored.
For a long term solution to the problem, not only the cultivable area under pulses needs to be substantially increased, but more R&D is required to increase productivity.
BW Reporters
Suman K Jha was the deputy editor with BW Businessworld
