Govt sets up fair price shops, sale outlets in 39 districts for Dashain festival

The government has operated the fair price shops from today in view of the upcoming Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath festivals. The fair price shops will sell daily consumer items to the general public at a subsidised rates. These shops have been opened at 43 places in 39 districts in the country.

Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC)  is operating the shops, five rupees discount is provided per kilogram of rice, kwati (mixed beans), lentil, buckwheat, and wheat flour while Rs 10 discount per litre is offered on soybean oil and five rupees on mustard and sunflower oil. Similarly, Rs 10 discount is provided per kilogram of beans and buckwheat from Karnali and the same amount per kilogram of a live he-goat. The Company has also made preparations for bringing goats targeting the festivals. It stated that arrangements have been made for supplying food grains using helicopters, airplanes, and trails to prevent food shortages in remote districts.

In the Kathmandu Valley, the fair-price shops would be operated at Thapathali and Ramshahpath of Kathmandu, Nakhkhu of Lalitpur, and Suryabinayak of Bhaktapur. There is also a free home delivery service in the Kathmandu Valley. The home delivery service would be provided from delivery platforms as Sasto Deal, Mukundo, and Gogo 20, among others. The government has brought the fair-price shops into operation one week before last year with the objective of avoiding crowds as there is still a risk of coronavirus infection.

The government had brought such shops into operation only 15 days before the day of Ghatasthapana last year. The cheap price shops would be run till November 10. Inaugurating the cheap price shops, Chairperson of the Company and Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply, Dinesh Bhattarai, said that such shops have been brought into operation with the objective of controlling price hikes and balancing the consumer market. On the occasion, he directed the office-bearers of the company to run the cheap price shops in a systematic and transparent manner. Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mohan Prakash Chand, shared that the shops have been brought into operation with a target to provide foodstuffs to the people at cheap price, adding that the Company had sold daily essential products to consumers at a cheap price during an earthquake, blockade and lockdown imposed to prevent and control COVID-19.