Shillong, Septemebr 8: The Meghalaya government on Tuesday organised a workshop on the Price Monitoring System at the State Secretariat here to strengthen surveillance of essential commodity prices, prevent hoarding, promote fair market practices and protect consumer interests.
The workshop, organised by the Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, brought together officials from districts and civil sub-divisions across the state to review existing price monitoring and reporting mechanisms and discuss challenges faced during field-level implementation.
Addressing the gathering, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Methodius Dkhar said the government has a responsibility to monitor the prices of essential commodities and protect consumers, particularly vulnerable households, from abnormal or unjustified price increases. He said timely and effective price monitoring is necessary to prevent consumers from being burdened by unnecessary escalation in the prices of essential goods.
Dkhar stressed the need for regular and accurate reporting, noting that the department collects price data on 41 essential commodities from different districts of Meghalaya. He urged officials and Price Monitoring Centres to prioritise timely submission of data, saying reliable information is essential for the government to track price trends and take corrective measures whenever necessary.
Acknowledging difficulties faced by officials in remote areas, including communication and connectivity problems, the minister encouraged participants to highlight their concerns so that the monitoring mechanism could be made more practical and effective.
Dkhar also said the participation of officials from the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution provided an opportunity for state officials to raise field-level issues and seek clarification on the implementation of the Price Monitoring System. During the workshop, Assistant Director in the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Radhika Goyal and Senior Statistical Officer Sandeep Kumar made presentations on the Price Monitoring System, reporting procedures and monitoring requirements.
Officials from different districts and civil sub-divisions also participated in an interactive session and sought clarification on issues faced while monitoring and reporting commodity prices in their respective areas.
The workshop was attended by Commissioner and Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Pravin Bakshi; Director, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, I. Mawlong; departmental officials and other participants.
