Govt assures steps to control vegetable price rise

Wednesday, May 23, 2012: In view of increasing prices of vegetables in the state, Kerala government has decided to make them available to consumers at a price 30 per cent lower than the market rates.
The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. State Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob took part in the meeting, official sources said.
Vegetables would be distributed through state Horticulture Development Corporation (Horticorp), state Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) and the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council.
Supplyco would start 106 new outlets in addition to its existing 26, in its supermarkets in 56 taluks across the state to distribute vegetables. The outlets would be run by Horticorp.
The Chief Minister authorised Agricultural Production Commissioner Subrata Biswas to monitor the functioning of the outlets which would start functioning from Thursday. Biswas was also told to submit suggestions to check the rise in vegetable prices.