Plea to ban forward trade in essentials

The state government would suggest the Forward Market Commission (FMC) and the Centre to exclude essential commodities from forward trading for the time being as transactions on commodity market exchanges, which are merely paper transactions, tend to increase prices of essential commodities and contribute to the inflation, said chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

A high-level meeting was called by chief minister Deshmukh following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's letter asking the state government to take action against hoarders to arrest escalating prices of essential commodities.

The meeting was attended by D K Sankaran and senior government officials, representatives of various consumer protection groups and traders' association.

It was decided in the meeting to ensure that prices of onion don't go beyond the common man's reach, and allow farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers, bypassing the usual chain of market committees, wholesaler, retailer and others.

Besides, district collectors would be asked to make space available in their respective districts for such direct interaction between consumers and farmers.

The chief minister also said the state would soon get 60 lakh metric tonne of wheat from the Centre and the government would ensure that it was distributed through the public distribution system (PDS).

"The state will not spare hoarders and black marketers. Orders to take strict action against these elements have been given to respective departments," he added.