The Nepal Weekly 
September 10, 2024
Damodar Bhandari, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies
The Nepal Weekly: How is the situation of supply of essential goods in the country at present ?
Damodar Bhandari: The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has made necessary preparations for ensuring smooth supply of essential goods to the consumers during the festivals.
TNW: Is there any special arrangements to ensure smooth supply of consumer goods ahead of the upcoming festival season ?
Bhandari: We will not allow shortage of essential goods in the market during the festivals and there won’t be artificial scarcity of any commodity. In this regard the ministry is being involved in necessary monitoring works. You might have heard that we have seized the go-downs of those traders who created artificial short supply. We will move forward making our efforts more effective. Our monitoring works will continue in a speedy manner.
TNW: How about checking the entry of adulterated and sub-standard items from across the border ?
Bhandari: We will arrange such a mechanism along the open border so that unauthorized entry of goods will be stopped. Surveillance will be increased in the major customs check points so as to make them more effective. We will also not allow to happen any kind of scarcity of essential commodities.
TNW: The consumers are now facing the shortage of sugar ahead of the festival and they are forced to purchase sugar in the black market paying more price. What measure is the government taking against such practices?
Bhandari: There won’t be any shortage of sugar during the festivals. We will ensure smooth supply of sugar without allowing black marketing or price rise. The government is making necessary preparations for that.
TNW: How is the government dealing with the problems of adulteration and black marketing ?
Bhandari: We will intensify monitoring activities to check food adulteration and discourage black marketing. If you have any such information, you may pass it to the ministry or Department of Commerce so that we can immediately take legal action against the wrongdoers.
TNW: How would you mobilize the government and semi-government bodies such as Nepal Food Corporation and Salt Trading Corporation so as to ensure smooth supply of essential goods during the festival season?
Bhandari: We will open subsidized outlets across the country ahead of the upcoming festivals. We will prioritize remote areas while opening such outlets. We are doing home works to provide subsidy in cooking gas (LPG) targeting the household users. We are going to introduce this system very soon. However, there is some difficulty for instance lack of nationwide distribution of national identity card. We are also opting for implementing this on the basis of citizenship certificate for the time being.
We will not allow any kind of shortage, scarcity, price rise of essential goods in this festival season. The ministry is committed for making necessary arrangements to ensure smooth supply of essential goods and checking adulteration and black marketing ahead of the festivals.
