Hoshiarpur- In view of the situation arising out of tension between India and Pakistan, District Magistrate Ashika Jain has issued orders in exercise of powers conferred under Section 163 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and Section 163 of the Indian Civil Security Code, 2023, to maintain adequate availability of essential commodities in the district.
These commodities include food grains and products made from them, animal fodder, milk and dairy products, petrol/diesel and other fuels and other daily use items. The orders issued state that complaints regarding hoarding of essential commodities, black marketing or charging unreasonable rates can be filed with the concerned authorities.
For complaints regarding essential commodities like petrol/diesel, District Food and Supply Controller Harveen Kaur can be contacted on mobile numbers 86991-74429 and 01882-222663, for animal fodder etc., Deputy Director Animal Husbandry Department Dr. Chaman Lal can be contacted on 76580-67043 and 01882-253574, for vegetables and fruits, District Market Officer Gurkripal Singh can be contacted on 98152-06188 and for cattle feed, District Manager Marfed Sanjeev Chopra can be contacted on his mobile number 98720-02155 and General Manager Verka can be contacted on 98149-07999 and 01882-238822, 238834.
In order to maintain adequate supply of fruits and vegetables in case of emergency due to war, any kind of hoarding of fruits and vegetables should be stopped and special checking should also be done in this regard. He said that it should be ensured that the prices of fruits and vegetables are not increased in any way in the vegetable market in an unreasonable manner. Strict action will be taken against those who hoard and sell fruits and vegetables by charging unreasonable rates.
Apart from this, in case of blackout, it should also be ensured that the lights in the markets are completely switched off, instructions have also been issued to the aartiyas, buyers, street vendors/hawkers in this regard. During the blackout, the lights of vehicles etc. should also be kept off in the markets.
He said that special meetings of the aartiyas should be held and a report regarding the availability/stock of fruits and vegetables should be sent to this office immediately. Apart from this, he instructed all the secretaries of the market committees not to leave the station under any circumstances so that emergency situations can be dealt with.