Home Minister accentuates on preventing black marketing, selling of substandard goods during festivals

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 30: Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has emphasized the need to prevent artificial shortages, black marketing, artificial price hikes, and the sale of substandard goods to ensure smooth and easy access to daily necessities during the upcoming festivals.

During a discussion with stakeholders, he stated that any price increase must be justified. 'The sale of low-quality food items usually happens during festivals. This is the time when poor-quality goods reach consumers, so this issue must be taken seriously,' he said.

The Home Minister also mentioned that results can be achieved through coordination between the concerned parties and that this will be evaluated in the next meeting after the festival.

On the occasion, Home Secretary Eaknarayan Aryal noted that the Department of Commerce should conduct Zoom meetings with all Assistant Chief District Officers to make market monitoring more effective. He also mentioned that this year, the number of fair-price shops will be increased during the festivals, including Dashain.

Director General of the Department of Commercial Supply and Consumer Protection, Rajan Poudel, shared information about the status of market monitoring, expectations from it, and the supply of essential daily food and consumer goods.

Similarly, stakeholders emphasized that the government should retain the right to set prices by eliminating the duplication of market monitoring efforts."