Lok Sabha Question No. 4335 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Price Stability of Essential Commodities
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Smt. Pratima Mondal

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4335 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## PRICE STABILITY OF ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES

4335.  SMT. PRATIMA MONDAL:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether essential commodities continue to witness volatile price rises and what structural measures beyond ad hoc export bans are being implemented;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  not  expanded  National  Food  Security  Act  coverage  in  line  with updated population data, potentially excluding eligible beneficiaries; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI B.L. VERMA)

(a) : Department of Consumer Affairs monitors the daily prices of 40 essential food commodities submitted  by  the  578  price  monitoring  centres  across  the  country.  As  per  the  data,  prices  of  food commodities are stable and under control.

Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) and Price Support Scheme (PSS) have been integrated under the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) to achieve convergence between the two  schemes  for  supporting  the  farmers  and  protecting  the  consumers.  Under  the  convergence framework, all procurement, including the procurement of pulses for buffer, at Minimum Support Price (MSP) are done under the PSS and procurement at market prices for buffer are done under PSF.

Government maintains buffer stock of pulses and onion under Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) to tackle  extreme  volatility  in  the  prices  and  in  ensuring  the  availability  of  these  essential  food commodities to consumers at affordable prices. Fluctuations in domestic production, seasonal variations in demand and speculative activities of market players often leads to volatility in the prices of pulses. Regulated release of pulses from the buffer to augment the availability helps in cooling down the market prices, and retail sale to consumers at discounted prices ensures availability of dals at affordable prices. Market interventions through buffer stock also helps in nudging the market players lower their prices. Further, buffer stock of pulses with the government acts as deterrent against manipulative hoarding and unscrupulous speculations by market players. In case of onion, the buffer stock plays critical role in controlling the seasonal fluctuation in prices. The period between Rabi and Kharif onion harvests is associated with rise in prices due to the depletion in stored Rabi onions. Onions from the government buffer are released during this lean season in regulated and targeted manner to augment the market availability and stabilise the prices.

(b)  &  (c)  :    The  National  Food  Security  Act,  2013  (NFSA)  successfully  implemented  in  all  the States/UTs aims to supplement the food requirements of upto 75% of the rural and upto 50% of the urban population, which  as  per  Census  2011  comes  to  81.35  crore  persons.  At  present,  against  the intended coverage of 81.35 crore, the States/UTs have identified 79.90 crore beneficiaries.

The Central Government has issued advisories to all the States/Union Territories from time to time to identify all eligible and poor persons/households including vulnerable sections of the society for inclusion under the NFSA. States undertake updation of their beneficiary database so that better targeting of rightful beneficiaries is ensured and ineligible beneficiaries get deleted. Thus, deletion of ineligible beneficiaries and addition of eligible beneficiaries under the Act is a continuous process.

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