Pulses, seized in Guj, MP;states renew action against hoarding

Rajkot/Indore: Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh seized pulses and sugar worth Rs 3.5 crore today, joining Rajasthan and Haryana in cracking down on hoarding and black marketing of essential commodities.

Soon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's directive last week to states to take stringent measures against hoarding and black marketing, Rajasthan four days ago imposed stock limits on all types of pulses under the Essential Commodities Act.

Hayrana followed Rajasthan by asking wholesalers and retailers of foodgrain to declare their stock limit to the Food and Civil Supplies Department.

Today authorities in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh seized pulses worth Rs 1 crore in Rajkot and sugar valued at Rs 2.5 crore in Indore and Gwalior.

"We carried out search operations at the premises of two businessmen located at Danapeeth area of the city (Rajkot)," district food and civil supplies officer Manoj Makwana said, adding that pulses worth Rs one crore "stored illegally" were seized.

The Food Department of Madhya Pradesh, too, raided some godowns in Indore and Gwalior and seized 8,200 quintals of "illegally-stored" sugar belonging to traders of Bhopal, Indore, Sagar, Chhatarpur and Nougaon regions of the state till late last night, state official sources said.

Though the scale of seizure is minuscule, it signals renewed focus of states to clamp down on hoarding, especially after directives from the Centre following poor monsoon and resultant price rise.