Ahead of the festive season, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely today reviewed the prices of essential commodities at a high level meeting in New Delhi. He directed the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs to remain vigilant and work closely with the States. <br/><br/>Mr. Jaitley asked them to take immediate measures, including stepping up procurement of pulses, enhancing and building up of buffer stocks to curb the steep price rise. During the meeting, the Minister also asked all the concerned departments to ensure that the common man has access to adequate supplies of essential commodities in the ensuing months.<br/><br/>According to an official release, the meeting noted that following the sustained de-hoarding operations, the wholesale as well as retail prices of pulses have moderated in the past two weeks. On an average, prices across the country have declined by about 20 rupees per kg. <br/><br/>With the ongoing market arrivals of Urad dal and the new crop of Arhar dal expected in early December, the prices would ease further. The supply situation would be further augmented when the 1 lakh and 30 thousand tonnes of pulses seized in the States come back into the retail market. <br/><br/>Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha also held a video conference with the Chief Secretaries of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh to review the progress of disposal of pulses seized in the de-hoarding operations. The high level meeting was attended by the Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Sanjeev Balyan and senior officials of concerned departments.