Orissa for Right to Declaration to check prices

Bhubaneswar, Aug 28 (UNI) Orissa Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal today announced that the state government is considering introduction of a ''right to declaration'' to check rise in prices of essential commodities.

Mr Samal said the modalities were being chalked out and hoped that the plan would be implemented more on the lines of Gujarat except that it would be a much better one.

The system, he said, would help prevent unscrupulous businessmen to hoard and increase the prices of various products.

Under the proposed system, the shop-keepers were required to display their stock and rate chart for the next three months.

The Minister chaired a review meeting of officials held here to discuss the rising prices of onions in various parts of the state and modalities to check it.

The prices of onion much to the displeasure of the consumers had reached a high of Rs 20 per kg during the last few weeks.

The Minister said since the Central government had excluded onion from the essential commodities' list from November 2004, the state government had no other alternative but to intervene in the market to check the prices of onions.

He said the government had already sold onions at Rs 14 per kg in as many as 21 areas in the capital and was considering its import from outside the state if needed.

After the government intervention, the retail price of onion had now lowered from Rs 20 Rs 16 per kg, he said and claimed that the retail prices of onion in Orissa was the lowest in the country, even lower than Maharashtra, the largest producer of Onions in the country.

Mr Samal said that all District collectors have been asked to keep a close watch on the market and intervene in the market if needed. The state largely depended on import of onions as it produced around one lakh tonnes of onions per annum against the requirement of 2.25 lakh tonnes.

UNI