Shillong, Sep 8:
The Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, organised a workshop on the Price Monitoring System at the Secretariat on Tuesday, aimed at strengthening price surveillance, ensuring fair market practices, preventing hoarding and safeguarding consumer interests.
The workshop brought together officials from across the state, including districts and civil sub-divisions, to deliberate on existing price monitoring and reporting mechanisms and address field-level challenges.
Addressing the gathering, Minister-in-Charge Methodius Dkhar highlighted the government’s responsibility in monitoring prices of essential commodities and protecting consumers, particularly vulnerable households, from abnormal price increases. He said effective and timely monitoring was crucial to prevent consumers from suffering due to unnecessary escalation.
He emphasised regular and accurate reporting, noting the department collects price data on 41 essential commodities from different districts, and urged Price Monitoring Centres to accord priority to timely reporting for tracking trends and taking appropriate measures.
Acknowledging challenges in remote areas relating to communication and connectivity, he encouraged officials to share concerns to make the system more practical. He said the presence of officials from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution provided an opportunity to highlight field concerns and seek clarifications.
Assistant Director Radhika Goyal and Senior Statistical Officer Sandeep Kumar from the Ministry made presentations on Price Monitoring System, reporting mechanisms and monitoring requirements.
Officials participated in an interactive session and raised issues encountered in monitoring and reporting prices.
The workshop was attended by Commissioner and Secretary Pravin Bakshi, Director I. Mawlong and other officials.
