The streets in Kathmandu Valley in the past few days have started getting crowded along with the onset of the festive season. While the public is on a shopping spree, cases of anomalies in terms of price and quality of goods being sold have also started coming into light. Inspections at different levels have found traders compromising on the quality of goods and overcharging consumers. Sujan Dhungana of The Himalayan Times caught up with Shiva Kumar Mandal, minister for supplies, to discuss different issues related to consumers and efforts made by government to control malpractices in the market. Excerpts:

The festive season has already begun. How well managed do you think is the domestic market?

Along with the onset of the festive season, a majority of markets in Kathmandu Valley and other major cities across the country at present are crowded with customers. I cannot say for certain that the market is completely managed. However, the government is using all its mechanisms to assure that the supply of goods is normal throughout the festive season and activities that hurt the consumers are controlled. The first way to control anomalies in the market is creating awareness among consumers and the government is holding different activities to make consumers aware of possible anomalies in the market. Similarly, the second tool to control malpractices in the market is by conducting market inspection effectively and continuously. Targeting the ongoing festive season, the Ministry of Supplies (MoS) and the Department of Supply Management and Protection of Consumers Interest (DoSMPCI) have been holding series of inspections in the domestic market every day. Likewise, the next tool that the government has used to control possible artificial hike in the price of essential goods during the festive season is by opening fair price shops in different parts of the country. The government has been operating more than two dozen fair price outlets in Kathmandu Valley alone and is subsidising different goods for consumers. The government’s intervention in the market by running such subsidised shops not only provides relief to consumers but also helps maintain uniformity in the price of goods in the market. Besides these initiatives, the government has also urged different consumer rights activists and businesses to put in their best efforts to control market anomalies during the festive season. Among others, the consumption of meat is particularly high during Dashain and there are chances of anomalies in livestock business. The government inspection had recently caught traders supplying dead livestock in the Valley that were meant for consumption. In a bid to ensure that healthy livestock is supplied in the market, the Ministry of Livestock Development (MoLD) has been testing the fitness of livestock in the market by coordinating with the MoS. Similarly, MoS has deployed separate inspection teams in the Valley to control artificial price hike of meat by traders.

The government recently sealed different shops selling branded products in Durbar Marg for overcharging consumers. However, traders have been saying that the government has ruined the business environment by doing so. How true is this?

The government does not have any reason to discourage domestic traders from doing business and the government does not have the right to step on the traders’ right to do business. However, the point is that all businesses should be carried out by meeting the legal standards set by the government and the government has the right to take action if traders breach government laws while doing business. Traders in Durbar Marg were found selling goods by keeping a higher profit margin than the limit set by the government. Traders do not have moral basis to question the inspection of the government as they were found to have cheated customers openly. If traders run their businesses as per legal standards, the government will not bother them. But if traders in Durbar Marg are saying that the government has ruined their businesses, they are asking the government to allow them to cheat customers and the government will never allow them to do so. It is to be noted that the government has and will always promote businesses and facilitate them. However, businesses should be run within the legal framework set by the government. The government will make its inspection more aggressive in coming days and take action against all businesses whether they be small or big if they are found breaching laws. It is sad that traders in Nepal do not have the tendency to learn from their past mistakes. They are found repeatedly committing the same mistake.

However, it is a fact that government policies are not contextual and business friendly. What do you have to say on it?

Yes, it is true that different consumer-related laws and policies of the government are not contextual and need to be amended urgently. Existing policies and laws are weak in the sense that they are not stringent enough to discourage anti-consumer activities. Thus, the government has already started the process to amend existing laws and introduce new guidelines that ensure consumers’ rights in the country. Policies of the government should highly discourage anti-consumer activities and encourage healthy business in the market.

Though Gopal Bahadur Khadka, former chief of Nepal Oil Corporation, was sacked on charges of financial irregularities, he has recently approached the court against his ouster citing that the government did not give him any clarification before dismissing him. Has the government fulfilled all the criteria in his dismissal?

The financial corruption and other irregularities of NOC chief in the process of acquiring land plots for the development of petroleum infrastructure is crystal clear to the government and general public. Former NOC chief Khadka has not only committed financial irregularities but has also made a mockery of government laws and policies. Moreover, his involvement in corruption has been proven by different committees of the Legislature-Parliament. The government sacked Khadka on the basis of evidences that prove him guilty in the process of land acquisition. The government does not have anything to say if the court gives Khadka a clean chit despite evidences that prove Khadka’s guilt. Similarly, the government does not need to seek clarification from Khadka as different parliamentarian committees have repeatedly given him a chance to defend and clarify the charges levelled against him. However, his responses were not satisfactory. The government does not need to seek clarification from anyone if the parliament has already sought enough explanations from the offender. No mater what verdict the court gives, the government will always penalise irregularities of any kind. Even if Khadka is reinstated by the court, the government will adopt some other mechanisms to take action against him. Not only Khadka, the government will penalise all other government officials if their involvement in financial irregularities while purchasing land for NOC is proven.

How do you plan to control such irregularities in other government enterprises under MoS?

Like NOC, there are chances that a high level of financial irregularities and corruption are rampant in other public firms which are under our ministry. However, the government will investigate, disclose and punish officials found involved in any sort of irregularity. The MoS is closely looking into every financial and policy aspect of National Trading Ltd (NTL), Salt Trading Corporation (STC) and Nepal Food Corporation (NFC). If we notice any suspicious activities in these entities, we will immediately investigate and take action. Among the three aforementioned entities, NTL is currently defunct. The government has planned to operate NTL in a new format and preserve its legacy. We will make a decision regarding the operation of NTL soon.