Godowns, stocks being registered to check hoarding: official

MANSEHRA: Directorate General of Industries and Commerce Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has started registration of godowns and stocks of essential commodities to check the hoarding and profiteering across the province, an official said Sunday.

“The hoarders and profiteers mould markets sentiments through artificial shortage of essential goods to swindle money but the government recently passed rules to check such practices and started registration of godowns and stocks throughout Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Sardar Sanaur Rehman, the assistant director Industries and Consumers Protection, told reporters here.

He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government introduced Registration of Godown Rules 2024 in its earlier Registration of Godown Act 2021 to check price hikes and hoarding of wheat/flour, edibles, pharmaceuticals, urea, cattle feed, sugar and sweets, etc.

“We have started collecting data of all godowns or stocks and their registration to ensure smooth supply of such essential commodities and items in case hoarders create an artificial shortage to manipulate markets,” Rehman said.

He said that assistant directors throughout the province had been delegated powers through fresh rules to establish the writ of government to ensure the supply of essential items in markets and check hoarding and price-hikes.

In the past, he said, the wholesaler hoarded essential goods such as wheat, wheat flour, sugar, urea and even lifesaving drugs to create artificial shortages in the markets to manipulate prices.

“With the enforcement of this Act and registration of godowns and stocks, nobody how influential he might be couldn’t dare to challenge the writ of the government,” he added.