It also instructed Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) to increase stock of daily consumable goods, particularly rice, edible oil, sugar, salt and petroleum products with the state-owned enterprises dealing on those products, so that the government could distribute them in case of need during the strike period. [break]
Top MoCS officials after the meeting with MoHA officials told myrepublica.com that Nepal Food Corporation (NFC), Salt Trading Corporation (STC) and National Trading Limited (NTL) have enough stock to ensure smooth supplies of basic food items.
“Nepal Oil Corporation too has sound petroleum stock averaging at some 60 percent of its storage capacity in Kathmandu. We believe there will not be immediate problem with the supplies situation,” an official said.
Concerned officials said that except for petrol, NOC´s stock of other petroleum products were enough to hold market for more than two weeks. “But since the demand of fuel tends to drop during general strike, we believe even the existing stock of petrol will be sufficient for a week,” said an NOC official.
NFC has said that it has rice stock of 5,500 tons in the Kathmandu Valley. Likewise, STC has said that it has enough stock of salt, sugar and flour.
Urmila Shrestha, general manager of STC, said they have salt sufficient for eight months and sugar for one and a half months in stock. “We are preparing to procure refined flour from private mills and operate our mills in Hetauda to shore up the stock,” Shrestha told myrepublica.com.
NTL too has announced that it has sufficient stock of sugar and other consumable goods.
The private sector that primarily supplies food and other consumable items in the market too have informed that they have a healthy stock to meet demand for a month.
“The suppliers have enough stock to meet demand of rice, edible oil, pulse and other essential commodities for a month,” Satish Kumar Bohara, general secretary of Nepal Rice, Oil and Pulse Producers´ Association, said. He also sees no reason for prices to go up as they have sufficient food stuffs in stock.
Despite the preparedness, concerned officials hope the political parties will work out a solution to end present political deadlock. They also believed that the strike will not continue for long.
If things went against their initial apprehension, officials said they will seek the Home ministry´s assistance and ensure imports and supplies of basic commodities in the market arranging necessary security escorts.
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