The Department of Consumer Affairs under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is monitoring the retail and wholesale prices of 22 essential food commodities. This is being achieved through various effective policy measures by the department such as curbing of black marketing, increasing the availability by restricting export and encouraging imports, building buffer stocks and ensuring timely release to ease abnormal price escalations.

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At least 11635 stockholders have registered declaring 3097694.42 MT of stock of pulses on the official portal of Department of Consumer Affairs as on September 20, 2021.

In this connection, it was essential to tap the data of pulses available in the open market. Therefore, with the approval of the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal, the department put in place a portal to encourage various stockholders like stockists, millers, importers and dealers to enter the stocks they are holding on any given date.

Stock declaration through traders, millers, importers, and warehouses which are both public and privately owned will create a data bank. This will enable the government to understand which are the states that produce and stock for milling purposes. It will also help to keep a check on undesirable practices of hoarding and artificial scarcity creation through stock declaration and real time verification of the same.

The portal, https://fcainfoweb.nic.in/psp, can also be accessed by any citizen. Stakeholders can register in the portal and create user id and password after verification of email and mobile through OTPs. After creation of user id and password, they share information in their profile by adding their details and geographic information and submit the variety of pulses they are having in their stock on any given date. It is the responsibility of the stakeholders to keep updating the data whenever there is an addition or subtraction in the stock.

Privacy of data is maintained. The data declared by any stockholder will be visible to them besides the state and central governments. The data helps them in knowing the movement of stocks and the quantum of stocks with them on any given date. The State Governments can monitor the registrations done and stocks declared by various stakeholders pertaining to their own states. 

This gives the data of the quantum of stocks of various pulses available in their State.  It also throws light about any expected shortfall in availability of any particular pulse so that the State Government can act proactively to ensure smooth availability by way of imports or through central buffers depending upon the situation.

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The Department of Consumer Affairs monitors the situation at the National level. It also throws light about any expected shortfall in availability of any particular pulse across the country so that the Government is able to act proactively to ensure smooth availability by way of immediate imports or restricting exports or releasing stocks in the central buffer depending upon the situation. The various measures that will be taken by the government based on the data from the portal will help in ensuring smooth availability of pulses at affordable prices for the consumers.