Guwahati/Jorhat, May 6: Dispur today told wholesalers and retailers of food items to fall in line or face cancellation of their licences at a meeting of stakeholders to discuss ways and means to contain price rise in the state.
Sources said food and civil supplies commissioner Rajesh Prasad, who chaired the meeting, impressed upon the traders about the need to comply with the dos and don'ts issued by the local administration to check prices or face action. This after a section of sellers spoke about their "limited" role if prices are high at the source, their alleged harassment during ongoing raids and why there was no hue and cry when prices of petrol products fluctuated frequently.
As reported in today's edition of The Telegraph, the meeting held at the Circuit House was attended by representatives of wholesalers, retailers, chambers of commerce, railways, Indian Oil Corporation and officials of supply, agriculture, Fishfed and veterinary departments.
The meeting was necessitated following the bad press both the state and Union governments had been receiving over price rise.
The meeting, sources said, was held in a "cordial" atmosphere and the stress was on "identifying" the problems and fixing it through "all-round" cooperation. A slew of measures (see chart) aimed at both officials and traders were initiated during the meeting where issues connected with the market came to the fore.
Sources said vegetable, poultry and fish wholesalers said prices of their products were more or less stable but there was something amiss with the retail market.
"For instance, a kg of parwal/patal (pointed gourd) is Rs 18 kg in the wholesale market but the same item is being sold for Rs 60 a kg in the retail," a source said, quoting a wholesaler. There was a discussion to issue receipts to retailers. Vegetables, poultry products and fish do not fall under notified essential items. "A slight rise in their prices adversely affects household budgets, sparking off heated discussions on and beyond the dining table. This is something we are witnessing now," one of the sources said.
As part of the measures, the Assam State Agriculture Marketing Board was asked to set up 10 more shops by finalising the location of the plots with help from the district administration.
"There are two markets now. A committee has been formed to finalise the venues within May 10. The wholesalers were asked to upload prices on a daily basis so that it is in the public domain," the source said.
The task force/enforcement teams in the districts will continue to raid places dealing in food items. Traders warned that prices of potato and pulses, which have stabilised, will see a rise soon because of likely rise in prices at source. "A few more meetings will be held," an official said, indicating that the administration was unlikely to ease the pressure on those dealing in food items.
Jorhat shop
The Jorhat district wing of the Jatiya Mahila Parishad, a sister concern of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, today set up shop in front of Jorhat Court building and named it Modi Bazar in protest against the high prices of essential commodities.
The shopkeeper and helper donned masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union food minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
A list of essential items and their prices in 2014 was displayed in the shop, with a comparison with prices this year.
Siba Kalita, central committee organising secretary, said prices of all essentials, pulses, lentils, sugar, flour, and especially mustard and refined oils had skyrocketed. "Everything has increased by Rs 40 to 60. The acchhe din promised by Modi has turned out to be really bure (bad)," he said.
The list showed the price of masur dal to have risen from Rs 80 to Rs 110, arhar from Rs 68 and 74 to Rs 100. The organisation demanded an immediate bringing down of prices to the 2014 level, before the NDA government had come to power.
