“Even under the newly elected Government the enforcement wing established decades ago continues to remain as defunct as it was before the takeover by the newly elected Government.”It is a normal precedence in Kashmir that Deputy Commissioners take stock of the availability of essential commodities much before the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan across the districts in Jammu & Kashmir and this year also the Deputy Commissioners continue to take stock of the availability of essential commodities in the districts of their own jurisdictions across Jammu & Kashmir. So for so good but ultimately it is not the availability but the affordability of consumers which furthers the causes of their accessibility of people to essential commodities. Unfortunately this year prices of essential commodities have already touched sky rocketing heights much before the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan so much so that the prices of almost all the vegetables and fruits have been doubled and the local bread makers have already hiked the price of bread from Rs 5 to Rs 7/- per piece. With prices of poultry chickens, vegetables and fruits rising to unimaginable heights the paying capacity of common consumers to buy essential commodities has taken a big hit due to slowdown in the business activities during the chilly months of winter in Kashmir Valley. Worth mentioning is the fact that Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCA&CA) department in reference to some guidelines of union Agriculture Ministry not noticed for implementation for more than seventy years has already given up the decades old practice of regulating the prices of mutton and chicken to the utter discomfort of the consumers across Jammu & Kashmir. Even under the newly elected Government the enforcement wing established decades ago continues to remain as defunct as it was before the takeover by the newly elected Government and consequently the market checking squads of this wing have not been reactivated as yet for the routine job of regulating the prices of mutton and chicken to the utter discomfort of the consumers across Jammu & Kashmir. Interestingly common consumers in Kashmir question the power and authority of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Department to give up decades old practice of regulating prices of essential commodities through market checking squads with the contention that if at all FCS&CA department does not find any law which would empower it to control the prices of essential commodities the newly elected Government preparing for the maiden budget session of the UT assembly in Jammu has the power to make and implement a law in this regard for protection of the rights of consumers in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country.
“With prices of essential commodities rising to unimaginable heights on the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan and weeks before the beginning of this year’s summer tourist season administrative wisdom demands an urgent attention and intervention from even the office of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for the purposes of restoring the decades old market checking practices as this alone can bring relief and respite to common consumers in the holy month of Ramadan across Jammu & Kashmir.”
As the department has left it for the traders to fix the prices of essential commodities, the consumers find themselves at the receiving end for last more than two and a half years now and more so on commencement of the holy month of Ramadan.. Unfortunately the working of FCS&CA department has been reduced to just distribution of ration among BPL (Below Poverty Line) beneficiaries. For more than two years now not only the general consumers but even the tourists are bearing the brunt of the intensifying rise in prices of essential commodities as they too are surprised to see the unprecedented spike in the prices of mutton, chicken, vegetables and fruits at the hotels and restaurants going unchecked across Kashmir. Though it is a fact that unprecedented rise in prices of essential commodities has been triggered by suspension of supplies to Kashmir after the Jammu-Srinagar highway was shut by landslides in recent days but it is also a hard fact that Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) department in Kashmir always used to keep prices of essential commodities under control even in harshest season of winter in the wake of traffic blockades on Jammu-Srinagar highway. With prices of essential commodities rising to unimaginable heights on the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan and weeks before the beginning of this year’s summer tourist season administrative wisdom demands an urgent attention and intervention from even the office of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for the purposes of restoring the decades old market checking practices as this alone can bring relief and respite to common consumers in the holy month of Ramadan across Jammu & Kashmir.
