Dhangadi, September 17

With major Hindu festivals just around the corner, Salt Trading Corporation, Regional Office of Kailali, Dhangadi has brought into operation fair price shops in the region in order to provide a measure of relief to the local consumers.

According to the STC, regional office assistant general manager Keshav Prasad Pandeya, subsidised shops have been set up at Kailali’s Dhangadi and Tikapur, Kanchanpur’s Mahendranagar, Doti’s Dipayal, Baitadi’s Patan and in Dadheldhura.

“Though last year we could set up only three such shops in Kailali and Baitadi due to the border blockade, this year we have covered other districts as well,” he said, adding that the shops will operate till November 6 from today. The corporation is also said to have launched a publicity campaign to inform people about the shops.

“The fair price shops won’t matter so much in the plains where there is no big discrepancy in prices. However, we believe it will be a great relief to those in the hills where prices of daily commodities are hiked unnecessarily by unscrupulous traders,” he reasoned.

Each customer will be allowed to buy up to six kg of sugar and three kg of salt at one time from the shops. The sugar and salt prices have been fixed at Rs 78 and Rs 16 respectively at the shops.

Meanwhile, STC is the only government entity to operate such subsidised shops in the far-west region this year so far. In Kathmandu, however, National Trading and Food Corporation have been operating subsidised outlets in the festive seasons.