Govt mandates market inspection to continue

REPUBLICA, Sept 21: The Central Monitoring and Evaluation Committee at the Prime Minister´s Office (PMO) has instructed the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) to immediately draft a ´standard operating procedure´ to make ongoing market inspections more effective.



The committee, chaired by Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire, on Wednesday issued a written instruction to MoCS to prepare the guidelines in two days. It has also instructed the ministry to immediately initiate the process to establish Consumer Courts to ensure that consumer rights are upheld.[break]



These instructions came days after the government confiscated huge amount of substandard and date-expired food items from different locations in Kathmandu and other parts of the country.



Stating that the ongoing inspection was having a positive impact, the committee has directed government departments currently conducting market inspection to continue their work even after Dashain. It has also asked the Finance and Agriculture ministries to mobilize customs and quarantine offices located at different border points to inspect the quality of food being imported into the country.



Currently, various government bodies ranging from the Commerce Department and the District Administrative Office to the Food Technology and Quality Control Department and the Local Development Ministry are involved in market inspection.



To make market inspection work result-oriented, the committee has asked various government bodies to make necessary arrangements so that the offender can be tried under different laws, including those related to public offence. This diminishes the chance of offenders walking scot free as is the case now.



The committee has also asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to coordinate with airline companies during the Dashain period to increase the number of flights to rural areas that lack road networks.



Instructions have also been given to the Transport Ministry, the Transport Department, traffic police offices and the Nepal National Transport Entrepreneurs Federation to ensure enough buses ply on the streets during the festival period.



“The ministry should also ensure that airline and bus companies and travel agencies or agents are not engaged in scalping,” the committee said.



Leela Mani Paudyal, secretary at PMO, said the prime minister´s office will consistently keep an eye on the works of various state organs to ensure proper implementation of the government directive.

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