Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 19: While the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department has issued an Ordinance to fix the stock limit for the wholesale and retail traders to control the prices of onions, pulses and edible oils and also keep check on hoarding, the Mufti Government is going to implement National Food Security Act in the State from December 1, 2015 in the State.
Talking to media-persons here today, Minister for Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution and Tribal Affairs Departments, Ch Zulfkar Ali said that J&K Government has decided to implement National Food Security Act from December this year and all the ration cards will be linked through Aadhar Cards. The people keeping more than one ration cards will have to surrender the others and with this total transparency will be ensured in the distribution system. It is mandatory for all the rationees to have Aadhar cards and get their Aadhar number linked through the system for getting ration. Those having no Aadhar number will not be able to get CAPD ration, he maintained.
Referring to soaring prices or onions, pulses, edible oils etc, Zulfkar said there is no much shortage as projected in the national media but by indulging in hoarding practices, the wholesalers and even retailers have created this scarcity for profiteering. Mr Ali said that he being `Controller General’, has to watch the interests of the consumers and keeping a check on the menace of hoarding and over charging, he issued Hoarding and Profiteering Prevention Ordinance, 2000 ( 1943 AD) through Director CAPD. The traders have been cautioned to obey the Govt orders, failing which their goods will be seized and godowns sealed. The special squads of LMD and CAPD will start raids shortly at Mandis and other locations of the traders. The traders have been warned not to go for hoarding, the Minister added.
He further said that to control the rates of vegetables and fruits in the Mandis, a meeting is being held with the concerned stake holders shortly and a daily monitoring system of the rates would be devised to keep check on the prices charged by retail vendors.
The CAPD Minister disclosed that another initiative has been taken to fix the rates of Labs tests in case of Dengue as many people are suffering in the state. He said for ELISA test (NSI) a rate of Rs 600 has been fixed. For Immune Globulin M (IgM) and (IgG) Rs 630 has been fixed. For coming festive season, LMD teams have been asked to go for intensive market checking.
Grinding of CAPD wheat at M/s Vaishno Roller Flour Mill Bari Brahmana has been suspended in view of complaints of underweight bags of Atta supplied by it. A CAPD supervisor and ration dealer Santosh Gupta of Digiana have also been suspended in this connection.
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