Govt taking steps to control price rise, tomatoes being imported from Nepal: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi, Aug 10: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government is taking steps to control inflation and as part of the measures tomatoes are being imported from Nepal to meet the demand and check prices.
"Lot of steps have been taken to contain inflation. Group of Ministers has been taking timely steps to control prices which are hitting common people," Sitharman said while participating in a debate on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.
Sitharaman said Tur dal is being imported from Mozambique, Urad dal will be imported from Myanmar, while around three lakh tonnes of onions have been procured to create a buffer stock.
She said tomatoes are being procured from Maharashtra and Karnataka, and distributed in Delhi-NCR, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and other cooperative societies.
National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) has distributed 8.84 lakh kg of tomatoes in these states.
"This will continue, and be increased," she said, adding that the wholesale prices of tomatoes in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are coming down.
"We have allowed imports from Nepal by removing import restrictions. The first lot will reach Varanasi, Kanpur, Lucknow this week," she said.
NCCF is also planning a mega sale of tomatoes in Delhi NCR region at a subsidized rate of Rs 70 per kg this weekend, the minister said adding that more such steps will be taken.
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We need to create system in which people's skills get their due: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Friday called for creating a system in which people's skills get their due and everyone's contribution is respected, as he shared a Diwali video in which he interacts with paint job workers and potters.
Posting the over nine-minute video which features him also having a conversation with his nephew Raihan Rajiv Vadra on YouTube, the former Congress chief said, "A memorable Diwali with special people - I celebrated this Diwali working with some painter brothers and making earthen diyas with a potter family."
"I saw their work closely, tried to learn their skills and understood their difficulties and problems. They don't go home. We celebrate festivals happily and to earn some money, they forget their village, city, family," Gandhi said.
"They make happiness from clay. While lighting up the festivals of others, are they able to live in light themselves? Those who build houses can hardly run their own houses!" he said.
Gandhi said Diwali means light that can remove the darkness of poverty and helplessness.
"We have to create such a system -- in which people's skills get their due and contribution is respected -- makes everyone's Diwali a happy one. I hope this Diwali brings prosperity, progress and love in the lives of all of you," he said.
In the video, Gandhi is seen working with labourers at the 10 Janpath residence and learning to paint walls along with his nephew. In the second part of the video, Gandhi goes to the house of a woman who makes earthen lamps with her five daughters.
Gandhi tries his hand at pottery and makes 'diyas', which he says he would give to his mother and sister.
Since his Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra and his Manipur to Mumbai Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi has been interacting with a cross-section of people from mechanics and cobblers to labourers and bus drivers.
He often posts videos of his numerous interactions and highlights the plight of various sections of society.
