Taking note of the constantly rising prices of tur dal, black gram and wheat, a team of officials headed by Deputy Director of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Shanthanagowda Gunaki and Joint Director of Agriculture Samad Patel paid surprise visits to godowns and shops at different places here on Tuesday and Wednesday to check for illegal stock of these essential items.
The officers visited warehouses at Nehru Gunj, Kapanur and Nandur industrial areas and inspected stocks. If stocks of essential commodities exceeds permissible limits as mentioned in Schedule-II of the Karnataka Essential Commodities Licensing Order 1986, the officers said, permission from the Deputy Commissioner is required to sell such stock.
The Karnataka Essential Commodities Licensing Order issued on July 13, 2023 and July 17, 2023, has put a cap on stocks of red gram, black gram and wheat, the officer told the traders.
As per information shared by the officers, wholesale traders can have hold stocks of 200 tonnes of red gram and black gram each and 3,000 tonnes of wheat. Retail traders can have stocks of 5 tonnes of red gram and black gram each and 10 tonnes of wheat.
The total production of a miller in the last three months or 25% of the installed annual capacity, whichever is greater, is the stock limit for the miller.
The officers warned that they will initiate stringent action against violators as per the Karnataka Essential Commodities Licensing Order 1986 and the Karnataka Essential Commodities (Maintenance of Accounts, Display of Prices and Stocks) Order 1981 issued under the Essential Commodities Act 1955.
