Government to dispose 7 lakh tonne pulses from buffer stock

New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) The government will soon dispose seven lakh tonnes of pulses from its buffer stock of 18 lakh tonnes, Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said here on Wednesday.

"We have asked the states to buy pulses from us at market rate. So far, we have received demand from three states (Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu). We will dispose 3.5 lakh tonnes of pulses this way. We are also looking to clear another 3.5 lakh tonnes through other means," Paswan said.

The government had last year procured 20 lakh tonnes of pulses for creating the buffer stock to cool rising prices due to supply shortage and to ensure better prices to farmers. Of this, 18 lakh tonnes of pulses are still lying in government godowns.

While Tamil Nadu will sell the pulses through public distribution system, Gujarat will use the same for midday meals whereas Karnataka needs the commodity for both midday meals and PDS, Paswan said.

The Ministry also intends to supply pulses from its buffer stock to government agencies like the armed forces, Central Armed Police Forces, government hospital canteens and for Sports Ministry programmes at lower rates.

"But, we will have to put it up in the Cabinet before we can go ahead with the decision," Paswan said.