SHILLONG, Sep 13: The Meghalaya government on Friday claimed that the absence of a goods train services exacerbates the issue of rising prices of essential commodities in the state.
Minister of Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Comingone Ymbon however stated that the prices of essential commodities in the state are stable and more or less the same with those in other states of the Northeast.
“According to the information of the department, all Deputy Commissioners are monitoring prices every day. There is no price rise. The prices are stable and we are working hard for this,” he said, while attributing the one-day sit-in by the VPP on price rise to election-centric politics.
“The MDC election is near and they have to fool the public,” the minister said.
Stating that there is a mechanism to monitor the prices all over the Northeast, he said there is not much of a difference compared to other states. He said the difference could be of 50 paise or one rupee.
He said the prices of various commodities, including meat and vegetables, are high in the state as they are imported and it entails the cost of transportation.
The minister said wholesale and retail prices differ as the shopkeepers need to cover the amount spent on transporting the commodities from the market to their shops. He, however, said the prices are regulated.
Meanwhile, Commissioner and Secretary of Food and Civil Supplies department, Pravin Bakshi explained the monitoring mechanisms.
He said the price monitoring system is a centralised dashboard from the Ministry’s side. He said the Food and Civil Supplies department finds out the prices of essential commodities and uploads the same on the dashboard.
“We can go to the price monitoring dashboard and get the prices of all essential commodities of our state and all other states. But the point of reference for us will be the northeastern states plus maximum Kolkata,” Bakshi said.
Stating that there cannot be one single price for each and every shop, he said, “There is a price range. If it shoots up beyond 10-20%, we get alerts, which give us indications that the price of this commodity is going up.”
“Weekly studies are done by the Food and Civil Supplies department to find out the cause,” Bakshi said.
He said the state-level and district-level price monitoring committees, which are chaired by DCs, also carry out inspections from time to time. Stating that it is mandatory for shops to display the prices of commodities, he cautioned that action will be taken against those found violating it. He advised the public to be vigilant and lodge a complaint when it is required.
