Keep prices under tight leash, Cachar administration tells merchant associations

August 25: In view of the impending nine-day lockdown beginning Thursday, the Cachar district administration urged the food grains merchant association, vegetable wholesalers and fruit wholesalers of the district to keep the prices under tight leash. Convening a meeting with food grains merchant association, vegetables wholesalers and fruit wholesalers at the DC’s conference hall here on Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner, Keerthi Jalli urged them to keep a check on black marketing, hoarding and prevent inflation of essential commodities during the nine-day lockdown period and thereafter.

The Deputy Commissioner urged the representatives of market associations to maintain prices of essential items, fruits and vegetables at reasonable rates and to ensure that prices are not hiked under any circumstances. Jalli also took stock of availability of food grains, including sugar, mustard oil, wheat, salt, wheat, flour, potatoes, onions and other essential items and strictly directed every wholesaler and retailer not to sell any product above the capped rate.

Echoing the views of Jalli, MLA, Silchar, Dilip Kumar Paul also urged the market associations to keep a tab on the prices of essentials, fruits and vegetables and to prevent escalation.In response to the pleas made by Deputy Commissioner and local MLA, the merchant associations gave assurance that prices will not be hiked in next 15 days. Deputy Commissioner Jalli warned that appropriate action will be initiated against the unscrupulous businessmen and traders indulging in malpractices.

Jalli also directed the agriculture, fisheries and food and civil supplies officials to visit the markets and to take necessary action to keep under tight control prices of fish, fruits and vegetables and other essential items.
The meeting was also attended by Additional Deputy Commissioner, AR Majumder, District Agriculture Officer, District Fishery Development Officer and officials of concerned departments.

The district administration has also launched a wide publicity and dissemination campaign to ensure that consumers are not overcharged for essential commodities. To ensure that there is no undue increase in wholesale and grocery rates of essential commodities and to stop profiteering and hoarding, several steps are being taken by the administration.