Money
‘Pressure’ foils market monitoring
Pressure from high government officials and political leaders has paralyzed market monitoring activities, allowing black marketers to operate unhindered, said Naindra Prasad Upadhyay, secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Supply.Pressure from high government officials and political leaders has paralyzed market monitoring activities, allowing black marketers to operate unhindered, said Naindra Prasad Upadhyay, secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Supply.
Speaking at the parliamentary Commerce, Industry and Consumer Welfare Committee on Thursday, he admitted that the government had failed to curb black marketing.
“A market control mechanism has been formed, but it has not been performing effectively due to various reasons. I can’t name the people who have been influencing the market. You can understand who they are,” he told lawmakers. “As a result, the ministry’s efforts have not yielded results.”
The government’s efforts to control irregularities in the market have been ineffective, and as a result, prices of essential commodities have soared. Some commodities have become so expensive they are beyond the rea-ch of many people. Motorists have been forced to pay up to Rs400 for a litre of petrol.
Despite the government’s announcement to provide gasoline to emergency services through state-owned petrol pumps and security forces, they have been found to be distributing fuel only to their near and dear ones.
Lawmaker Mahendra Sherchan said there was an artificial shortage and unn- atural price hikes in the market due to lack of an effective distribution and monitoring mechanism. He criticized the government for failing to take action against the big traders who have been cheating consumers.
Lawmakers and consumer rights activists have also asked the government to form a special market monitoring committee consisting of government officials, consumer rights activists, petroleum experts, transporters and market experts.
Bimala Khanal, president of Consumer Eye Nepal, urged the government to implement a one-door policy to maintain transparency in the distribution system.
Spokesperson of the Metropolitan Police Crime Division Superintendent of Police Sahakul Bahadur Thapa refuted charges that the police had been involved in black marketing. He said the police had been considering transporting small quantities of petroleum for private use. According to him, the police have so far seized and distributed 100,000 litre of gasoline.
Shambhu Koirala, director general of the Department of Commerce and Supply Management, claimed that the distribution system had improved in recent days. He stressed the need for proper coordination between the Home Ministry and other agencies to enforce legal provisions and government directives to root out market anomalies.