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NEW DELHI: Amid concerns over depleting stock of essential items, the Centre has decided to track the prices of 22 essential food items in 114 cities and other centres more closely and step in where cost goes up by over 15%.Though the Centre does not have the power to directly act in such situations, the food and consumer affairs ministry proposes to alert states and districts concerned to respond to the situation so that consumers do not face any hardship during the lockdown when several commodities are scarce.The Centre took the step over depleting stocks of grocery with e-tailers, which may last for a month or so.During a meeting with food and consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday, states pointed to increase in prices of pulses and vegetables. Paswan directed government-owned Nafed to fast-track supply of pulses to states so that distribution could start quickly. Nafed will supply 1.9 lakh tonnes of pulses per month and it has stock of about 40 lakh tonnes.Officials said to prevent traders and hoarders from making a kill during this period, the Centre has delegated full powers of the Essential Commodities Act to states to issue notifications and take action. They can later send the notifications to the consumer affairs ministry for post-facto approval.The fear of depleting food stocks prompted the home ministry to issue fresh instructions on Sunday, including permission to operate mills for processing flour, pulses and edible oil, sources said.Soon after the lockdown, ecommerce firms had told the ministry that they could meet the demand for the next three months with their stocks, if there was no panic buying.Chairing a web-based interaction with state ministers and secretaries, Paswan advised them to prepare microlevel plan to ensure essential commodities were available at fair prices in all local markets.The minister also suggested that states should commence distribution of free foodgrains — five kg per month per person for the next three months — expeditiously after he was informed that only 16 states had rolled it out till Monday.