SHILLONG, May 23: In spite of the ongoing crisis arising out of the pandemic, Meghalaya, unlike last year, is comfortably positioned as far as stock of essential commodities including agricultural produce is concerned, according to official sources.
These sources from the Food and Civil Supply department have informed that the prices of essential commodities are being monitored on a daily basis and so far, there has been no complaint about any artificial and/or excessive prices.
The official, however, said that there could be a marginal increase in the prices of essential commodities due to the local factors in terms of demand and supply.
Informing that the price monitoring committees across all districts are regularly meeting to ensure that the commodity rates are not hiked, the official said that there is no shortage of essentials in the state as wholesalers had already started requisitioning commodities when alarm was sounded over a possible lockdown.
It was also revealed that since Guwahati is still up and running, therefore, there has been no dearth of commodities in the state. The official went on to add added that at present, a well-organised system of home delivery in the state is also contributing in managing the situation.
On the other hand, the official also warned of action against those indulging in hoarding of food stock, adding that that District Price Monitoring teams have been mandated to take action and are also ensuring that no black-marketing of essential items takes place in the state.
The official informed that foodgrains under NFSA is being lifted from FCI godown and it has reached most of the fair price shops. “The distribution is also going on in many places,” the official added.
It may be mentioned that a total of 21.5 lakh consumers in the state will benefit out of the additional allotment of rice by the Centre through NFSA for May and June.
NFSA beneficiaries will also get free rice at the scale of five kg per head for the two months apart from the additional allotment of rice at the rate of Rs 3 per kg.
