BHUBANESWAR: Amid concerns over possible disruption in supply chains due to the West Asia crisis, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday directed officials to remain vigilant and take strict action against unscrupulous traders attempting to create artificial shortages, particularly cooking gas.
Chairing a high-level meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan, Majhi took stock of the availability of essential commodities across the state. Chief secretary Anu Garg presented a detailed overview of the measures being taken by the state government to address the situation.
The meeting focused on preparedness and measures to tackle any artificial scarcity of key items such as petroleum products, LPG and fertilisers. The chief minister was informed that adequate stocks of petroleum, cooking gas and other essential commodities are currently available in the state to meet the demand.
Majhi directed enforcement agencies to conduct statewide raids and ensure that supply chains function smoothly without any disruption. He also emphasised the importance of maintaining sufficient fertiliser stocks to support ongoing and upcoming kharif cultivation and instructed the departments to ensure uninterrupted availability so that farmers do not face any inconvenience during the agricultural season.
To prevent panic among the public, Majhi advised officials to launch widespread awareness campaigns, assuring citizens about the availability of essential commodities and discouraging panic buying.
The government also decided to restore 20 per cent supply of LPG to commercial consumers including hotels and other establishments. Following a meeting of the state’s crisis management group chaired by Garg, additional chief secretary in the Information and Public Relations department Hemant Sharma told this paper that as supply of LPG was completely stopped for commercial consumers, it was decided that besides supply of 20 per cent requirement, another 10 per cent will be kept for release based on discretion of the district collectors.
The district collectors will decide which commercial units will be supplied LPG based on the local situation and requirement.
The fertiliser supply chain was also discussed in the meeting. Fertilisers, particularly urea, will be supplied through primary agriculture credit societies (PACS), retailers and wholesalers, he said adding, steps will be taken to ensure to stop hoarding and diversion to other states.
The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department informed that there is no issue with LPG supply for domestic consumers. Concerns were raised about irregular supply and black marketing. Besides, priority will be given to fuel supply to various institutions and MSME sectors. Discussions were also held on promoting PNG use in hotels and commercial establishments. Hotels with both PNG and LPG facilities were advised to prioritise PNG use.
It was decided that the state-level crisis management group will meet every 2-3 days, and district-level meetings will also be held regularly, Sharma said.