Hyderabad: BRS deputy floor leader and former minister T Harish Rao on Monday expressed concern over the rise in prices of fine rice and other essential commodities and urged state govt to immediately review the situation and take steps to provide relief to consumers.
He said the price of fine rice had increased by 25% in the past four months, placing an additional burden on common people. Onions were selling at ₹70 per kg, garlic at ₹240, groundnut oil at ₹210 per litre, green gram dal at ₹125 per kg and toor dal at ₹165 per kg, according to him.
He said increased production should have resulted in lower market prices. He said farmers were not getting remunerative prices and consumers were being forced to pay more, with intermediaries benefiting from the situation. He said the price rise was straining household budgets, particularly those of middle-class and low-income families.
In a statement, Harish Rao criticised Congress govt, alleging that it had failed to control inflation and protect consumers from rising prices. Questioning govt’s claims of record agricultural production, Harish Rao asked why rice prices were rising despite higher output. He also questioned the effectiveness of govt’s fine-rice distribution scheme, saying the rise in retail prices suggested consumers were not fully opting for the grain supplied under the scheme. Harish Rao alleged that farmers were receiving only nominal returns under the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism, while middlemen were making substantial profits. He also flagged the rise in prices of other essential commodities.