According to government officials, the market monitoring
will basically concentrate on controlling market prices, examining the quality
of essential products and ensuring a smooth supply of essential goods. The
ministry has also directed the Department of Commerce, the Department of Food
Technology and Quality Control and the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology
to carry out effective inspection as per their work areas.
Addressing an interaction on preparations for the festival
season, Purushottam Ojha, secretary at the ministry, said that the government
was ready to provide any type of support to control artificial price hikes and
food adulteration and to make goods available easily. “There is a need to make
quality essential commodities and services available at fair prices for the
festivals,” he added.
The ministry has urged the concerned government entities to
sell daily commodities such as rice, pulse, flour, ghee, milk products, sugar
and edible oil at subsidized rates for a fixed period with a target on Dashain,
Tihar and Chhath. Ojha also urged Salt Trading Corporations and National
Trading Limited to sell sugar at a rate lower than the current retail price.
Salt Trading and National Trading have been making
preparations to import 20,000 tonnes of sugar to maintain stocks for the
festivals. Urmila Shrestha, managing director of Salt Trading, said that even
though work on importing sugar had been delayed, they had adequate reserves. On
Friday, Salt Trading, National Trading, Nepal Oil Corporation, Dairy
Development Committee and Nepal Food Corporation had been invited to the
Department of Commerce to discuss preparations for the festive season and their
plans.
Four state-owned entities—Salt Trading, National Trading,
Nepal Food Corporation, and Dairy Development Committee—are preparing to open
an integrated bazaar for the upcoming festivals like they did last year. The
bazaar will open from Sept 23 to sell daily commodities at fair prices.
This year, Nepal Food Corporation plans to sell goats from
the Ring Road area besides its regional office at Thapathali. “We will buy some
6,000 goats from the Tarai and sell them from our outlet at Thapathali and from
major locations on the Ring Road,” said Hari Narayan Chaudhari, managing
director, adding that they would sell different types of rice at subsidized
rates in Kathmandu and in the district headquarters of
the hilly region.
Anil Thakur, director general of the Department of Commerce,
said that opening of the integrated bazaar and temporary shops to be operated
by government entities in the districts would help make essential goods
available at fair prices. “In addition, we will strictly monitor the market to
control any illegal activities in the market related to goods that are in high
demand during the festivals,” he added.
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