Kathmandu, February 3 The government has said it will start specific market monitoring targeting different hatcheries and poultry firms in the country from Tuesday amid rising price of chicken in the domestic market since the last few weeks. Chicken price, which was recorded at Rs 280 per kg a month ago, has reached Rs 400 per kg in the retail market in the recent days. Netra Prasad Subedi, director general of the Department of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection, said that market inspection will be carried out from Tuesday as the price of chicken is increasing unnaturally. “Complaints have been registered citing that poultry entrepreneurs are arbitrarily hiking the price,” said Subedi, adding poultry entrepreneurs and farms found to be raising chicken price arbitrarily will be penalised. Meanwhile, poultry entrepreneurs have said that the rise in price of chicken is due to inadequate supply in the market. “As the production of chicken has come down drastically, its price has gone up,” said Rishi Ram Poudel, central senior vice-president of Nepal Hatchery Industry Association. It is to be noted that hatcheries had stopped production of chicks for two weeks in December and destroyed ready-to-hatch eggs to pressurise government to raise the price of chicken citing growing loss amid surplus production.