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According to the Tamil Nadu’s Food Ministe, E.V. Velu, the state government has plans to import 10,000 tonnes of tuvar dal from Canada and Myanmar. He added that this will be distributed by means of public distribution system.
This decision has been taken up by the state government as purchasing tuvar dal via public distribution system is cheaper than purchasing though open market.
In ration shops, tuvar is sold at Rs.32 a kg, in comparison to the around Rs.80 a kg in other stores.
"In 2007, when the government started to sell tuvar in ration shops, the demand was not much as its price in the open market was only marginally higher. But in recent times, with the open market prices going above Rs.80 a kg, majority of ration card holders have decided to buy the dal from the ration shops," Velu told reporters after inaugurating Aahar, an international food and hospitality fair.
According to Velu, out of the two crore ration card holders of Tamil Nadu, 1.75 crore opt for buying from ration shops.
Queried about complaints of diversion of tuvar to the open market by owners of ration shops, Velu said: "Next month a helpline will be introduced for the public to lodge complaints. We have conducted surprise audits of 400 ration shops."
