BHUBANESWAR: A DAY after State Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department asked Civil Supplies officers (CSOs) of both Khurda nd Cuttack districts to go for anti-hoarding operations, officials of Civil Supplies Department on Wednesday raided a couple of leading shopping malls in Cuttack City. The order was given following a directive from the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs to Secretaries/Commissioners of Food and Supplies Department of all States seeking a report on the stock of pulses in various shopping malls.
During the raids, the five-member team found a stock of around 80.8 quintal of ‘dal’ in Big Bazaar and 19 quintal in Reliance Fresh. The team also verified bills and receipts to check the price of ‘dal’ sold by these malls. ssistant Civil Supplies fficer G Mishra told mediapersons that no excess stock of ‘dal’ was found in both the malls. He, however, clarified that raids will continue at regular intervals and anyone found guilty will be punished.
The Ministry, in a letter earlier this month, had stated that Big Bazaar and other such outlets were selling ‘Arhar’ and Urad’ at rates below `100 in their retail counters. “It shows that they had stock of pulses which might have been purchased at lower price,” the letter stated.