Group of Ministers review prices of essential commodities, inflation control steps in Andhra

Amaravati, May 20 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies Minister N Manohar chaired a Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting on Tuesday to review the prices of essential commodities and inflation control measures.

Finance Minister P Keshav, Agriculture Minister K Atchannaidu, Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav and senior officials attended the meeting held at the state secretariat in Amaravati.

"We are committed to stabilising essential commodities prices and protecting consumers and farmers through daily monitoring," Manohar was quoted as saying in a release.

The ministers directed officials to monitor prices of rice, tur dal (red gram), cooking oil, tomato, and onion and called for the submission of reports capturing daily trends of these commodities before every cabinet meeting.

With national inflation over three per cent and Andhra Pradesh's at around 2.5 per cent, the officials were asked to take special measures to sustain price stability across the state.

At the meeting, transport bottlenecks were identified, prompting directions to inspect the Guntur district market yard as well as Kakinada, and Krishnapatnam ports to resolve supply chain issues efficiently.

Officials informed the ministers that prices of essential items have been stable. The GoM stressed on ensuring uninterrupted supply and accurate reporting of price fluctuations across rural and urban areas.

The government will enhance real-time monitoring using the 'AgriWatch' system to strengthen state-wide surveillance of essential commodity pricing and prevent sudden market distortions, the release said.

A monitoring was ordered on reducing market fees on paddy, based on best practices in other states, to provide relief to farmers and ease trade.

Steps will be taken to encourage exports in the open market to ensure competitive prices and reduce surplus stock pressure on the domestic supply chain, said the GoM.

The ministers asked agriculture officials to prepare pre-season procurement plans for Kharif and Rabi, ensuring profitable prices and timely Minimum Support Price (MSP)-based purchases from farmer service centres.

Officials were directed to minimise discrepancies between estimated and actual yields and promote fine variety paddy cultivation with an aligned strategy for implementation. PTI MS STH NB NSD NSD

Source: PTI