Centre starts selling tomatoes at subsidised rate of Rs 65/kg in Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): The Centre on Monday started selling tomatoes at a subsidised rate of Rs 65 per kg in the national capital to provide relief to the common man and check abnormal profits by intermediaries.
Tomatoes are being sold at an average rate of Rs 90 per kg in the national capital.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare flagged off National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) vans selling tomatoes at Rs 65 per kg.
"We are trying to moderate the prices of tomatoes. With this market intervention, in the next 3-4 days prices of tomatoes will come down," Khare told reporters here.
NCCF has initiated a market intervention by directly procuring tomatoes from mandis and selling them at a subsidised rate of Rs 65 per kg. Mobile vans would sell tomatoes at 50 colonies in the national capital.
The intervention is to protect consumers from recent increase in tomato prices and prevent windfall gains for intermediaries, according to a statement.
"The retail price of tomatoes has seen unwarranted increase in recent weeks despite continuous arrival in mandis in good quantities. Rains and high humidity due to prolonged monsoon in major producing states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra are reported to have led to quality concerns in recent weeks," the Department of Consumer Affairs said.
The possible role of market intermediaries in the current price rise in this high-demand festive season may not be ruled out, it added.
The NCCF is also continuously supplying onions from the government buffer at Rs 35 per kg to retail consumers in major cities across the country.
Khare also said that the department is importing pulses from Myanmar and chickpeas from Australia.
In the national capital, the average price of potato is Rs 40 per kg and onion Rs 58 per kg.
The all-India average price of potato is Rs 36.89 per kg, onion Rs 54.36 per kg and tomato Rs 64.72 per kg on Monday, according to the government data.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
