'Daal’ dearer, not on campaign menu

PATNA: Beef and pulse are sources of protein. But while beef has become a poll issue in Bihar following Dadri lynching, pulse remains a non-issue notwithstanding its skyrocketing prices.
Such has been the impact of pulse price rise that it has been replaced by chicken and eggs in many households. Those sticking to vegetarian food during the Navaratra are opting for curd instead of ‘daal’.
“Achhe din ka intezar karte-karte bure din aa gaye. Narendra Modi made tall promises, but did not fulfill them,” Jhuma Banerjee, a businesswoman as well as homemaker told TOI on Friday. The 40-year-old berated politicians for ignoring skyrocketing prices in the state assembly election and raking up useless issues like caste and beef.
Union food minister Ram Vilas Paswan blamed the Bihar government for the pulse problem. “There is politics behind this issue. The Union government has taken all possible steps, including imports, to ease the crisis, but unlike the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments, the Bihar government did not seek any help from the Centre,” Paswan told a news agency.
State Congress president Ashok Choudhary wondered what has prevented Paswan from extending the help on his own. “He hails from Bihar, doesn’t he?” the Congress functionary asked and recalled Modi promised employment, check on inflation and return of black money stashed abroad but he has not fulfilled any of his promises.
‘Daal’ seems to have also dampened the festive spirit this Navaratra. Phulwanti Devi of Ashok Rajpath rued unlike Durga Puja earlier, her family members cannot have new clothes. “It is difficult to buy grains these days… Who will think of buying new clothes?” she asked.
“A year or so ago, most ‘daals’ sold for Rs 60 to 80/kg. But now their prices have doubled,” Narayan Prasad, a grocery shop owner in Kurji locality, said and added most of his customers were now buying less quantity of ‘daal’. “Some have nearly halved it while others have stopped buying the costly variants, opting for ‘Chana’ or ‘Masoor’ pulses instead,” another shopkeeper said.
Chunnilal Raj Kishore, a wholesaler of pulses at Daldali market, attributed the soaring prices to fall in production of pulses in India and Myanmar. “India produces around 185 lakh tonne of pulses every year, but this year the production hovered around 135 lakh tonne. Also, 30 to 40% of pulse requirements of Asian countries is fulfilled by Myanmar, but there too the production has been adversely hit by unfavourable weather,” he said and added it would take at least two to three months for the market to gain stability.