Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain on Friday reviewed the situation arising out of the sudden and undue increase in the retail prices of tomato in the markets of Delhi. During the meeting, the Minister expressed serious concern about the sudden rise in the prices of tomato in Delhi.
He directed Commissioner, Food and Civil Supplies to instruct Market Intelligence Unit to depute teams in the market for ascertaining the reasons for abrupt increase in the prices.
The Minister directed that the teams should also gather information about instances of hoarding or black marketing of tomato, if any, so that the concerned departments could initiate necessary legal action against them.
Food and Civil Supplies Department has been entrusted with the responsibility of checking the availability and prices of various food items in Delhi.
"Food and Civil Supplies Department has constituted a Market Intelligence Unit which regularly reviews the availability and fluctuations in the prices of various food commodities in Delhi," Delhi Government press release stated.
The information gathered during the process is shared with concerned Departments of Delhi Government for taking necessary action.
The Minister said that the exercise of collecting information from the market should be carried out during the weekend as well. He also asked the Department to keep strict vigil on the availability and movement of prices of tomato and other seasonal vegetables as well as other food items.