Wednesday 13th May, 2026
Srinagar, May 11: Advisor to the Governor, Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, has on Saturday issued a fervent appeal to both wholesale and retailer associations to advise their members to observe self-restraint and collectively decide not to charge more than the prices fixed by the Government.
Ganai, who is Advisor in-charge Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department, made this appeal in light of possible disruptions on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway due to forecast of intermittent rains over the next few days and the holy month of Ramadhan.
He said the Government would take all proactive steps to ensure that people do not face any hardships in the availability of essential commodities during Ramadhan.
The Advisor further stated that the prices have been fixed after taking into consideration all market forces which leaves no room for an undue spike in the prices of essential commodities. He warned that strict action will be taken against those wholesellers and retailers who shoot up prices abnormally and violate the rates fixed by the Government.
Meanwhile, taking a serious note of reports of price hike of essential commodities during the holy month of Ramzan, the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan on Friday directed department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) and Legal Metrology to start intense market checking across the city on daily basis and take strict action against profiteers and black marketers who are selling meat on exorbitant rates.
He asked Additional Deputy Commissioner Srinagar and other concerned officers to send daily report to the Divisional Commissioners office with details of market checking along with names of profiteers and black marketers and action taken against them during a meeting.
The meeting was informed that FCS&CA department has checked 1330 establishments and shops in which they recovered Rs 3,36,350 penalty besides Legal Metrology department booked 207 challans in which they recovered a fine of Rs 2,25, 550 from erring shopkeepers. The Divisional Commissioner directed the officers to enforce all shopkeepers to display their rate list in their shops.
The meeting was further informed that with regards to redressal of grievances, people can log into department websites jkfcsca.gov.in,capdkashmir.nic.in andfeastjk.gov.in/jkgrams. Department has also dedicated Toll Free Numbers for filing of complaints which are 1967 and 1800-180-7011. People can get more information on the social media by visiting Face book Page of Department of Food, Civil supplies and Consumer Affairs Kashmir and following Twitter Handle of the department which is Director_FCSCAK.
Meanwhile, taking strong note of complaints of overpricing of fresh food items sold in markets, the Srinagar administration has launched a massive city-wide inspection drive to curb overpricing and take immediate action against instances of violations.
District Magistrate Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary has directed all executive magistrates of the district to ensure daily inspections of all fresh food markets falling within their respective jurisdictions and take strict action against those indulging in overpricing.
Teams comprising officials from FCSCA, Legal Metrology, Food Safety, SMC and Police will inspect markets in their respective jurisdictions and will be liable for any breaches in action against violations.
Two senior officers from FCSCA Srinagar have been designated as enforcement officers for areas falling within the larger jurisdictions of North and South of the district.
The general public has been requested to report any instances of overpricing in these two larger zones of the district to Assistant Directors Ghulam Qadir at 9906464944 (for North) and Parvaiz Ahmad at 7051736919 (for South) being assured of prompt action on all complaints thereof.
Meanwhile designated teams held inspections of fresh food markets at all seven Tehsils of the district today. Errant dealers were fined an aggregate of about Rs 70,000 during the inspections. Some 320 kilograms of stale vegetables and fruits and about 40 kgs of polythene bags were also seized and destroyed during the inspections.
UNI