Truckers strike: Govt directs collectors to monitor price rise of essential commodities

Bhubaneswar: A day after the truckers across the country called off their strike, Odisha government has written to all the district collectors to keep a close watch on the prices and supply positions of essential commodities in the market.

The State government directed the collectors to include the civil supplies and market intelligence field officers to inspect both the wholesale and retail markets on regular basis to keep a tab on the prices and availability of essential commodities like wheat, sugar, potato, edible oil and onion.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised over the timing of the letter and it is alleged that due to lack of coordination among the different departments, the State government had to write such letter asking its officials to be on alert in view of possible shortage of commodities and subsequent price rise.

The Food and Civil Supplies department had written the letter to all district collectors on July 28.

It is pertinent to mention here that the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) had ended its 8-day strike (on July 27) after the Centre assured to look into their demands like removal of toll barriers on highways and bringing in diesel under the ambit of GST.