Kathmandu, Sept 27: Parliamentarians have suggested the government to remain aware and vigilant against exorbitant inflation and black marketing in the daily consumable items including sugar as the major festivals such as Dashain and Tihar were nearby.
A majority of the parliamentarians attending the meeting of the Public Account Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday said artificial shortage on the daily consumable goods could be created during the festival and thus brought this matter to the knowledge of government.
Gokul Prasad Banskota emphasized the need of ensuring people’s right to avail the daily essentials at an affordable price. He claimed that the shortage of sugar in the market, especially during the festival season, was due to giving select persons privileges and support from government for the manufacturers and importers.
Likewise, Rajendra Prasad Lingden appealed to the government to pay timely attention to the plight of the consumers who were bearing the brunt of black marketing and inflation. Achyut Mainali and Dev Prasad Timalsina expressed concern over the undue advantage that were being taken by others than real farmers when it came to chemical fertilizers.
Arjun Narshing KC urged the government to take necessary steps as, he said, that the general public were bearing the brunt of black marketeering of food items as the festivals near. Ram Krishna Yadav demanded strict actions against those business persons involved in hoarding things, thereby leaving consumers at lurch.
Lekhnath Dahal requested the Committee members to prioritize effective discussion within the committees and to take stock of the complaints and status of implementation of the decisions in the past to increase the effectiveness of the Committee.
Yogesh Bhattarai, analyzing the state of the State coffers during the formation of the incumbent government, criticized that it was a clear violation of the government’s policy on cutting down the public expenses by not buying new vehicles and not travelling abroad except for essentials.
Shyam Kumar Ghimire questioned how long would the public corporations would sustain with the grants and subsidizes provided by the government due to their bleak financial conditions. He demanded effective market monitoring to curb the black marketing of the daily consumable items.
Committee member Amanlal Modi said that it was necessary to demand information about the status and implementation of the decisions made by the Committee.
Manish Jha called for making the discussions of the Committee public employing social media and asked the government to stop the trend of procuring sugar from abroad at a reasonable price and putting a sticker in the packet here falsely portraying the sugar produced domestically.
Sanjay Kumar Gautam spoke of the need to prod the government to prevent policy corruption and to deliver concrete works.
Committee’s President Rishikesh Pokharel urged the committee members to present their suggestions regarding prioritization of the clearance of arrears since the Committee is due to deliberate on it.
