In a bid to make people feel the presence of new government, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday directed the ministers and secretaries to develop a rapid action plan and bring black marketeers to books.

Convening a meeting with representative of different ministries at his office on Monday, PM Dahal directed the ministers and secretaries to take immediate action against those involved in black marketing, creating artificial scarcity and raising prices of commodities.

Those in attendance were the secretaries at ministries of Home Affairs, Industries, Commerce and Supplies besides Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi and Supplies Minister Deepak Bohora. Chiefs of the security forces, including Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, were also present in the meeting.

“People have been sufferring from black marketing, artificial shortage and inflation. Take immediate action against those involved in such activities, developing a rapid action plan, so that people could feel the presence of government,” the PM told the secretaries.

When the secretaries raised the problem of high-level meddling in the action taken by them in the past, the PM urged them to make amendment to the existing laws if needed to curb the menace. Directing the secretaries and security chiefs to work by forming a unified and central command for swift results, Dahal said, “We will take a decision on a unified command soon.”

The government’s action should create terror among the wrongdoers but the people should feel relieved, he said. “All the date expired commodities and goods should be seized and burnt at Ratna Park which would send out a clear message to the public.” He also directed the concerned secretaries to submit a report about the market monitoring every week to the Prime Minister’s Office through the Home Ministry. 

The ministers and secretaries expressed commitment to provide relief to the people by making market monitoring effective.