Farmers’ markets to combat inflation in TN
Rattled over the spiralling price rise in the run-up to the Assembly elections, the DMK Government on Friday decided to open more retail outlets to sell vegetables, even as it urged the Centre to re-impose the ban on forward contracts in sugar as part of a package to rein in prices.
As the price of onions continued to rule high at Rs.60 a kg at the retail level in the State on Friday, a high-level meeting convened by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi decided to immediately open more outlets under the cooperative fold to directly sell vegetables to consumers in Chennai and other Municipal corporation areas.
Already, cooperative outlets were offloading about 20 tonnes of vegetables daily to consumers directly at fair price shops in the metro, putting pressure on private retailers to rein in their prices, the meeting emphasised. This strategy would be intensified with Government directly intervening through cooperatives to sell more vegetables, it decided.
Karunanidhi also announced that 25 more ‘Farmers Markets’ would be opened across the State soon, over and above the 154 such markets functioning now. These ‘Farmers Markets’ will directly sell vegetables and horticulture to consumers at reasonable prices.
