Union Government to use post offices to distribute pulses

The Union Government has decided to utilise the vast network of post offices across the country to sell subsidised pulses.
The decision was taken during the meeting of the inter-ministerial committee on prices of essential commodities headed by Consumer Affairs Secretary.
The committee reviewed

• The availability and prices of essential commodities, especially pulses.
• The prices of pulses, sugar and other essential commodities.

The committee decided to release more gram (chana) from buffer stock to ensure its availability through retail distribution at reasonable prices during the festive season.
Why post offices will distribute pulses?

• The purpose of this move is to ensure that there is no shortage of the pulses during the ongoing festival season.
• The postal networks will fill the gap of absence of government outlets in the States for the distribution of pulses, mainly, tur, urad and chana.
• It will help government to leverage strong network of around 1.54 lakh post offices in the country, of which 1.39 lakh are in rural areas.
• It will help government to release more pulses from buffer stock and sell it at subsidised prices to protect consumers from high prices.

In order to protect consumers from high prices, Central Government has been releasing tur and urad from its buffer stocks to state governments as well as government agencies like NAFED and Mother Dairy for retail distribution at a subsidised rate.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2016