Bhubaneswar, April 1: With the traders’ scheduled stir all set to start from tomorrow, the State government today decided to procure essential commodities through e-marketing.
Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma Thursday urged the traders to call off their stir in the interest of consumers.
“To tackle the situation, we have decided to begin talks with National e-marketing Ltd for procurement of pulses. We hope it will yield the desired result,” Dasburma told reporters here after holding a meeting with top officials at the Secretariat.
The minister informed that a task force had been formed to review the situation on a daily basis. “We do not want to see the consumers in trouble. The task force will hold discussion with Collectors of all the districts on a daily basis,” Dasburma stated.
On Wednesday talks between the State government and representatives of Federation of All Odisha Traders’ Association (FAOTA) failed on withdrawal of VAT on pulses, wheat and wheat products.
The traders are adamant on going ahead with stopping import of essential food grains to Odisha from April 1. They had threatened to stop the import of essential commodities pulses, edible oil, sugar, rice, wheat and wheat products from other states from April 1 protesting against the five per cent value added tax (VAT) imposed on pulses, wheat and wheat products by the State government.
As many as 25 states have exempted VAT on pulses, wheat and wheat products, they claimed.
