Note ban has not affected prices of essential items: Ram Vilas Paswan

New Delhi: The note ban decision has not affected the prices of 22 essential commodities, including foodgrains, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said changes in prices of the 22 items including pulses, onion and tomato vis-a-vis on the day of demonetisation are being monitored on a daily basis.

Around 3.89 lakh tonne of wheat, 184.45 lakh tonne of rice and 10.45 lakh tonne of pulses have been procured from farmers since demonetisation, he said responding to supplementaries during the Question Hour.

Between November 2016 and February, authorities in states have carried out 17,506 raids under the Essential Commodities Act, arrested 1524 people, prosecuted 837 and detained 46 black marketeers. Of these, 163 were convicted.

Goods worth over Rs 4 crore were confiscated during these raids, the minister said.