So What if I'm in Bihar, I Have my Eye on Dal Crisis: Food Minister Paswan

Patna: Food minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who has been facing charges of neglecting the pulses crisis in favour of the ongoing assembly elections in his home state Bihar, has said the dal issue is being politicised.

The minister, who had been busy campaigning, said, "Even if I am in Patna, my people are holding meetings every day and keeping me informed. We are taking all possible measures to ease the situation."

The opposition has questioned Mr Paswan's absence from Delhi at a time when the price of pulses is at an all-time high and Arhar - the dal favoured across India - is selling at Rs 180 a kilo.

Fingers have also been pointed at his colleague, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, who is also campaigning, and the government has been accused of waking up late to the crisis.   

This morning, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, "A lot of Central ministers are campaigning here. Farmers are facing a drought but they are not concerned. Look at how dal has become so expensive."

The pulses crisis has hugely affected Bihar, where the people in the poorest areas survive on dal roti.

Yesterday, commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman had defended the absence of Mr Paswan and Mr Singh, saying, "Just because they are not here, work does not stop".

"If Bihar government is so concerned, it should have demanded the pulses imported by the Centre," Mr Paswan hit back today. "We have imported 4000 MT of pulses. Why haven't the states demanded that? Only Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have demanded it."

Declaring that hoarding needs to be checked by state governments, Mr Paswan added, "There is quite an enormous shortage of pulses... We are importing as much as we can get from other countries."

Last year, India had produced 17.20 million tons of pulses -- 2 million tons less than the previous year. This year, the crop had been hit by unseasonal rains in March.

But it has also been pointed out that fewer farmers have been cultivating pulses since unlike wheat and rice, the minimum support price for pulses from the government is considered to be very low.