Debt-ridden pulse traders in Chhattisgarh face auction threat

In all, over 12,000 quintals of different varieties of pulses have been seized across the state

Vinay Lal, a pulse trader in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, had taken a loan of Rs 1 crore from a nationalised bank to stock pulses. Now, he faces threat of becoming defaulter because of state government’s unrealistic approach in dealing with the pulses puzzle.

The authorities seized over a 1,000 quintal of chana dal from Lal (named changed on request) under drive to check skyrocketing pulse price. In all, over 12,000 quintals of different varieties of pulses had been seized across Chhattisgarh.

The seized pulses would be put for auction on November 17 that had come as a big jolt for traders whose stocks had been seized under the pretext of hoarding.

Lal had been purchasing the stock annually by taking loan from bank and store it in cold storage to supply it throughout the year.

Since the stock had been seized and state government had announced to auction it, Lal had been left in a peculiar position. While a huge stock he purchased had slipped away, he had been spending sleepless nights to plan for repaying the loan.

“The pulses seized from the traders are not from theft or smuggled that the government should put it for auction,” fumed Chhattisgarh Pulse Seed Association President Gopal Agrawal.

The authorities should work out some plan to resolve the issue as a large number of traders would shatter as they had paid for the pulses. In the pulse business, traders had been doing business on bank loan. 

Ironically, most of the stock seized is Chana dal while the issue is with the escalating price of Tur (Arhar) dal, Agrawal said. The auction will not make much difference, he said, adding that the traders had been cooperating with the authorities and had been selling Tur dal for Rs 120 a kilogram.

“The Chief Minister (Raman Singh) had assured that he would look into the matter and put the auction process on hold but the authorities were adamant to go ahead,” he added. A query sent to state’s food minister, Punnulal Mohile for the version remained unanswered.