PRICE DIVISION
Price Division of the department collects and compiles various types of price data at Taluks and Districts level. After scrutiny and compilation and approval, the data is being forwarded to the Central and State Government and to other agencies for the purposes of Policy decision, Planning, Research Work and to watch daily price fluctuations.
Various kind of prices collected by the department
Farm Wholesale Prices
Department has been collecting the Farm price of major agricultural commodities produced in the State since 1954 onwards. Farm price include Farm Wholesale Price & Farm Retail Price. Farm wholesale price of 81 commodities are being collected fortnightly from 77 Taluk Centers in the State. District Average and State Average of Agricultural commodities is generated on Monthly basis.
Farm Retail Prices
Farm Retail Price is the price which the farmer gets when the farm products are sold at smaller quantity at his farm site (farm gate) or nearest rural retail market. Farm retail prices of 63 items are collected monthly from all Taluks in the last working day of every month. As per GO (Ms)83/75 LBR dated 01/10/1975 farm retail price is being published in the Kerala Gazette. Report on District Average and State Average of Farm Retail Price is generated on Monthly basis.
Daily Retail Price of 50+28 Essential and Necessary Commodities
Retail price of 50 essential commodities are collected daily from the district headquarters in the specified schedules. Along with this, price of 28 additional items are also being collected. The prices collected are scrutinized and compared in the district office and forward to the Directorate through DESCAS by 12.30 pm on all working days. Prices division consolidates the data and furnish the same to the Office of the Chief Minister, Kerala, Office of the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Additional Chief Secretary, Planning and Economic Affairs and Director of Civil Supplies. Districts and State Consolidated reports are generated on every working day. Variation report of State Average is also generated on every working day.
Weekly Retail Price of 20+9 items
Weekly price of 20 items which are not included in the daily 50 and additional items are being collected in Friday from all district headquarters. Besides twenty items, price of 9 items are also being collected. Consolidated reports of Districts and State Consolidated reports are generated on every Friday.
Daily Wholesale and Retail Price of Essential Commodities furnished to the Price Monitoring Cell
Daily Wholesale and Retail Price of 22 items – rice (seven varieties), Wheat, Atta, Gram Dhal, Tur Dhal, Urud Dhal, Moong Dhal, Massor Dhal, Ground Nut Oil, Mustard Oil, Vanaspathi, Soya Oil, Sunflower Oil, Palm Oil, Onion, Tomato, sugar, Jaggery, Milk, Tea (Loose), Salt are collected from all district centres and sent directly to the portal of Central Price Monitoring Cell.The Retail prices of 22 items as specified above are collected under the three categories purchased by Low Income, Middle Income and High Income group. To sum up, the retail prices of each items in the above 3 categories and the wholesale price of the item in one category (i.e total 4 category) are collected. This Prices are consolidated at Directorate and furnished to the price monitoring cell of Civil Supplies Department for adopting market intervention measures. District wise report and average report is forwarded to Price Monitoring Cell on every working day at 4.30 PM.
Weekly Wholesale And Retail Price of Fruits
Weekly market wholesale and retail prices of selected fruits like Orange, Apple, Guava, Pineapple, Banana, Plantain, Mango, Watermelon, Grapes are collected every Friday and given to Horticulture Corporation. District wise and state wise reports are generated on weekly basis.
Price of ICDS
The first quality price of 21 food items are collected fortnightly from 14 Districts centres for ICDS and consolidated report forwarded to Supplyco.
Price of Forest Products
The market rate of 19 notified species of forest products are being collected monthly from the important timber markets of Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Kozhikode. These report are prepared quarterly and forwarded to the Chief Conservator of Forest, Government of Kerala. Price prevailing in the neighbouring states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh for these items are also collected annually. Report of average price of Forest product are generated quarterly.
Price of Ayurveda raw materials
The prices of more than 400 items of Ayurveda raw material are also being collected by this Department once in a year from Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam and when the request is made by the Ayurveda Colleges of concerned Districts.
Dietary Price
Since 1968, market rate of dietary articles are collecting on quarterly basis which required by hospitals, jails and other institutions for fixing base prices. These prices are utilized by various institutions for the settlement of contracts for the supply of dietary and non – dietary articles. As per GO(RT)147/70/plg. Dated 19th June 1970 Government declared the department as a permanent agency for the collection and compilation of prices of dietary articles on a quarterly basis. The main schedule for price collection for the year 2022 includes 185 items. Additional 19 items are collected from every taluk centers of Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur districts for forwarding the data to Museum and Zoo. First quality items are collected for the dietary schedule. Details of 130 items are collected in an additional schedule in the first quarter (December) of every year.
Price of Waste paper
As per the meeting held on 13/01/1996 before the Principal Secretary, Higher Education decision has been taken to collect monthly price of waste paper from all district centres. The consolidated report is published monthly from Directorate and quarterly report forwarded to the Controller of stationery, Thiruvananthapuram. Price of scrap items are also collected and report generated in every month.
Price of Coir and Husk
Other important prices being collected by the department are coir and husk. The price of selected Coir items are collected from Coir manufacturing centres from the Districts. Report is generated on the price of rotted and raw materials of Husk. These are collected weekly from taluk centres and quarterly reports are being furnished to Director, Coir Development Department, Director, Department of Printing and Deputy Director, Coir Board, Kochi.
Price of Coconut shell
The wholesale and retail price of coconut shell is collected monthly from all District centres except Alappuzha and Idukki. The report is generated quarterly in the Directorate. The Report is forwarded as and when requested from Educational Institution and Jail for tender procedure.
Price of spices
Retail Prices of important spices (7 items) Nutmeg, Mace, Cinnamon, Cloves, Pepper, Cocoa, Vanila are collected every week from Kottayam, Idukki, Wayanad and Thrissur District. The consolidated quarterly report is forwarded to Spices Board, Kochi, Directorate of Cocoa and Arecanut, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI.
Wholesale Price of Cocoa
Wholesale price of cocoa is collected from selected centres i.e, Thiruvalla, Meenachil, Moovattupuzha, Kothamangalam, Kalady, Kattapanna, Mananathavady and Idukki. The consolidated quarterly report is forwarded to Directorate of Cashew & Cocoa Development Board, Department of Agricultural and Co-operation, Kochi, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI.
Weekly Price of Salt
Wholesale and retail price of salt are being collected weekly from Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode. The consolidated quarterly report is forwarded to Salt Commissioner Jaipur / Deputy Salt Commissioner Chennai.
Monthly Price of Salt
Monthly Wholesale and retail price of salt are collected from 14 districts. Details of stock of wholesale and retail price are also being collected from 14 Districts and the data is supplied to Director of Civil Supplies.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI)
Wholesale Price Index for agricultural commodities measure average change in Wholesale Price level at the Wholesale market over a period of time in comparison with a particular period of time which is the base period. The Index report is published on monthly basis.
Various kind of indices calculated by the department
Parity Index
Parity Index is the ratio of the index of prices received by the farmers and the index of prices paid by the farmers, expressed in percentage, It indicates the state of affairs of the farmers receiving value for their products and money expended for cultivation of the crops and for their livelihood. Index report is generated and published on monthly basis.
Wage and Wage Index
Wage rate is generally defined as the price payable for the working energy spent by a worker either during specified period of time or for a specified measure of performance. Index numbers of wage rates depicts movement of relative changes in the wage rates over a period of time. Index report is generated and published on monthly basis.
Consumer Price Index (AL&IW)
Consumer Price Index for agricultural labourers and Industrial workers under the minimum wage Act 1948 measures changes in the price of goods and services that households consume. These changes have a direct effect on the consumer’s income and their welfare, Since the rate of change of different goods vary, a price index can reflect only their average movement. A price index is typically assigned a value of unity, or 100, in some reference period and the values of index for other periods if time are intended to indicate the average, proportionate or percentage change in prices from their reference period. Price indices are also helpful to measure differences in price levels between different cities, or regions at the same point of time.
Traditionally, one of the main reasons for compiling a Consumer Price Index is to manage the effect of price variation in the wages of workers over a period of time. Apart from this Consumer Price Indices are also widely used to measure general inflation, standard of living, social security benefits etc.
To sum up, CPI numbers indicates the changes over time in the level of retail prices of the fixed set of goods and services pertaining to a defined group, if the consumption pattern of the group were to continue as such. This index is generated and published on monthly basis.
Consumer Price Index (R/U/C)
In order to make the District level planning more efficient and to conduct studies in this aspect, the formulation of District level micro economic indicators is very essential. Several activities taking into account this aim have been incorporated in the SSSP envisaged by the Central Government. Among the 20 points envisaged in this project one of the main activity point is the computing Consumer Price Index (R/U/C). Kerala state has been preparing the above mentioned index since January 2020. Price of items has to be collected on a monthly basis from 149 centres (78 Urban, 71 Rural). Base year for CPI (R/U/C)is 2018. District wise and State wise CPI’s are generated and published in three categories ie, Rural, Urban and Combined.