Bhubaneswar, April 26: The state government has decided to go for market intervention to get pulses from the Centre. But if you want dal in your daily meal, be prepared to bear the high price for another two months.

Food supplies secretary M.S. Padhi said the Centre had asked for indents to provide dal to the deficient states such as Odisha, and the state government had decided to procure 5,000 metric tonnes of dal from the Centre. The dal will be sold through a selected fair price shops in the state.

"But, the process will take about two months to reach consumers," he admitted.

The Centre will provide the grain, and it will have to be processed, packed, transported and delivered to the consumers, he said.

"Since the state government does not have the required expertise and infrastructure, it will have to depend on other agencies. Hence, tenders will have to be floated to select the processor and transporter," said Padhi, adding that the tender process would take time.

Reacting to the development, Federation of All Odisha Traders' Associations secretary Sudhakar Panda said: "It seems that neither the Centre nor the state government is keen to resolve the problems the consumers are facing at the earliest. They are just playing to the gallery."

Panda said the state government had decided to procure only 5,000 metric tonnes of unprocessed dal, which was "not adequate to meet the requirements of the state".

"The state's daily requirement of pulses is 2,500 to 2,600 tonnes (around 450 to 500 tonnes of arhar dal, which is much sought-after in the state). But, it plans to procure 5,000 tonnes of unprocessed arhar dal which will come around 3,500 metric tonnes after processing. This stock will be exhausted hardly within a few days," said the traders' federation leader.

"The state government should immediately procure the commodity and ensure that it is supplied to the consumers at the earliest. Or else, it will lead to price rise of dal," he said.

At present , the prevailing price of arhar dal in the wholesale market is Rs 125 to Rs 136 per kg. The essential commodity is being sold at Rs 140 to Rs 145 per kg in the retail market.

Official sources said the state government was in touch with National E-Marketing Limited and sought their help in the processing, packing and transporting to the delivery points, as the state government does not have required expertise and infrastructure.

The traders' federation, on the other hand, has offered to assist the government as it claims to have required expertise. "But, the government is not asking for our support," said Panda.