Hike in prices of goods discussed in Assembly ; CM assures Price Fixation Committee
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 18 2019: Replying to a call attention motion raised by Opposition Members Govindas Konthoujam and Surjakumar Okram concerning the rising prices of essential commodities as well as scarcity of petroleum products in Manipur, during the State Assembly Session today, Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced that a State Level Price Fixation Committee will be established to control the prices of goods and essential commodities.

Significantly, many Ministers and MLAs from the ruling side were absent.

Most of the Congress MLAs, who had defected to BJP, could not be seen on the Opposition Bench as well.

The Chief Minister said that due to the agitation against CAA in Assam, there had been issues in the transportation of goods including petroleum products.

Hike in prices of goods discussed in Assembly ; CM assures Price Fixation Committee

But with the restoration of normalcy in Assam, steps have been taken up for free transportation of goods.

He said that altogether 123 loaded trucks, including petroleum products, have started moving towards Imphal from Jiribam this morning.

The vehicles include 25 petrol tankers, 42 diesel tankers and 53 LPG trucks, the CM added.

On checking price rise and black marketing of essential commodities, he said that representatives of Chamber of Commerce will be invited for a discussion on the issue.

He said that due to deficient monsoon this year, the production of foodgrains in the State decreased and therefore additional quota of foodgrains have been sought for distribution under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) .

As the State Government has already announced a drought like situation in the State, Central Government officials visited the State and assessed the situation.

A proposal for allocation of Rs 151 crore has been sent, of which Rs 9.9 crore has been sanctioned.

Compensation to the affected farmers will be distributed in a transparent manner and steps have been taken up for cropping in the ensuing Rabi season.

Agriculture Department has proposed allocation of Rs 12 crore, of which Rs 6 crore has been sanctioned by the Planning Department and the distribution of seeds has been started, the CM explained.

During the session, Govindas Konthoujam said that the price hike of goods and commodities has created great hardships for the common people and explained that Manipur relies heavily on road transportation, and added that this is where fuel supply need to be kept uptodate.

Asking what the Government has done to check this trend, Govindas expressed desire for a policy to check the inventories being stockpiled by stockists in the State.

He also asked the State Government regarding measures to ensure that shops make their price list visible to the customers.

On the other hand, Surjakumar Okram expressed desire for the Malom oil depot to maintain proper stock of fuel.

Replying to the questions raised by the Opposition MLAs, the Chief Minister said that owing to the difficulties faced in transporting petrol and goods to Manipur due to the situation in Assam over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the State Government had even started to consult the Union Home Minister regarding import of the said items from Myanmar side.

The Chief Minister further said that it has been found that some National Food Security Act ration cards were given to some well to do families, instead of the intended targets/beneficiaries, and added that necessary steps will be taken up at the earliest to rectify such errors.

Biren added that 82 per cent of the population have been covered under National Food Security Act (NSA).

He further assured to check whether essential commodities and goods are being stockpiled in godowns to create artificial scarcity and price hike.

Steps will be taken up to ensure that shops have a list of their stocks/items and prices easily visible to the customers to avoid any malpractice, the CM added.