BENGALURU: Economically poor households are hugely burdened by the sharp price hike of essential commodities and the prices of rice in the country is increasing every day. In the light of this, the central government has decided to sell rice at a subsidised price of just Rs 29 per kg. The National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India (NCCF) has taken the initiative to distribute essential foodgrains under the ‘Bharat’ brand.
Yashwik of NCCF said that of late, the prices of food and grains have skyrocketed and poor people are facing difficulties. “The central government is making various plans and efforts to curb inflation. It is already selling wheat flour and cereals under the ‘Bharat’ brand. Now the central government has initiated another project to help the middle class. It has decided to sell rice at Rs 29 per kg. Raw rice is available at Rs 60 per kg in the state. The Centre has planned to sell it through the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) in Bengaluru, and it is likely to be launched on February 6”, he said.
Yashwik further added, “We are trying to launch the Bharat Brand on the same day across the state. “There are 50 vans operating throughout the state in order to supply Bharat Dal and wheat floor. We are getting very good response from the consumers. We are selling 500 kg of dal and 400 kg wheat floor every day. The rice bags will available in 5 kg and 10 kg bags”, he pointed out.
Ravi Keerthi, a ‘Bharat’ brand trader, said, “Earlier, we were selling onions at a minimum price of Rs 25 per kg when the retail price was Rs 60 to Rs 70 per kg. After the price softened, we started selling dal and wheat flour. The price of wheat and dal under NCCF is cheap. The actual price of wheat flour is Rs 490-500 per 10 kg, but here it is available at Rs 275 per 10 kg. The price of chana daal is Rs 90 per kg in the retail market, but under NCCF, it is Rs 60”.
Sadiq, a customer, said the central government is beneficial for the poor and middle-class households. “I would suggest that everyone make use of this benefit. The products under the Bharat brand are cost-effective”, he noted.
There has been a huge response in Bengaluru to ‘Bharat Atta’ and chana dal. So far, 2,81,572 kg of Bharat dal and 1,22,190 kg of wheat have been sold in the city. The main warehouse is in Yeshwantpur and the authorities are planning door delivery in 50 localities in Bengaluru through mobile vans in the coming days.
The main areas where the Bharat brand of wheat flour and dal are being supplied include Basaveshwaranagar, Deepanjalinagar, Mahalakshmi Layout, Gayatri Nagar, Nagasandra, Abbigere, Chikkabannavara, Thanisandra, Hesaraghatta, Yelahanka, Magadi Road, Kodigehalli, Seshadripuram, Sanjay Nagar, Jakkur, Banashankari, Kumaraswamy Layout, JC Nagar and Dairy Circle.
The Bharat brand of rice will also be available through e-commerce stores like Amazon, Flipkart etc. Customers expressed happiness about the low prices of the foodgrains.