Dhangadi, September 30

Traders in Kailali have expressed their displeasure over frequent market monitoring being conducted by the authorities, saying the raids were being conducted only to trouble them.

“Monitoring the market is not bad, but government officials have been sparing the big traders and punishing only the small ones,” said Kailali chairperson of Grocery Traders’ Association Laxman Panta, urging government officials to also conduct raids on industries, factories and dealers.

“Substandard goods come from the factories. So, why don’t these officials raid the go-downs where these goods come from instead of troubling small traders?” he questioned.

After the beginning of the new fiscal, District Monitoring Committee of Kailali has conducted market monitoring in 145 places. But the locals have termed the monitoring a farce.

“The officials have been monitoring the markets, but sub-standard and expired goods are still being sold,” complained a local.

While local consumers have complained that the monitoring teams have been lenient towards unscrupulous traders, Kailali chairman of National Consumers’ Forum Hari Regmi doubted if the monitoring was actually taking place.

“The market monitoring being conducted by the authorities is just eyewash. It is only to show that they are acting on the directives of the higher authorities. Otherwise, they wouldn’t just be focusing on small shops instead of raiding go-downs of the factories where the substandard goods come from. Raiding small shops is meaningless,” he argued.

Rabindra Jha, food investigation officer at Regional Food Technology and Quality Control Office, Dhangadi said they had to focus on grocery shops and small traders as most complaints were against them.

“Generally, the foods are of good quality when produced in factories. They get date-expired when they are stored for long in shops. Hence, we are focusing on small shops,” he reasoned, while Assistant Chief District Officer Hiralal Chaudhary conceded that they had failed to monitor the factories.