Madhya Pradesh chief minister praised for action against hoarders




Bhopal, Aug 24 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has received a pat on the back from Congress president Sonia Gandhi for his action against hoarders, official sources said.

Chouhan is emboldened by the Congress chief's praise for his measures against sugar hoarders and is now mulling the idea of starting a helpline for people to complain against hoarders and officials.

At a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) last week, Sonia Gandhi praised Chouhan for taking action against hoarders and hoped that Congress-ruled states would follow suit.

"Chouhan at a review meeting with officials of the food and civil supplies department late Saturday praised Sonia Gandhi's gesture, saying it was a sign of healthy politics. He also emphasised on a helpline, so that anyone could register his complaint related to the sugar crisis or its black marketing," an official said.

The chief minister, while speaking to reporters later, said that the toll free helpline number would help anyone who wants to register a complaint against traders or officials.

Meanwhile, having seized more than 45,000 quintals sugar in raids at 425 spots so far, the state government has claimed that the action helped in bringing down the retail price of sugar by almost Rs.3 per kg.

"Raids against hoarders have helped in easing panic among people who were buying sugar in advance to avoid the pinch of price hike," an official release stated.

Keeping in mind the festival season, especially the 10-day Ganeshotsav which began Sunday, Chouhan has instructed senior officials of the food and civil supplies department to continue the drive against hoarders and black-marketeers. He also instructed that there should be no delay in issuing licences to traders for sugar trading, said the release.

"Licence should be issued to applicants within 15 days," Chouhan said.

During the meeting, which was attended by Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Paras Jain, the chief minister also asked officials to ensure that traders did not face any difficulty in getting licences.

"The traders shouldn't earn more than two percent profit," Chouhan asserted.

Chouhan also spoke over telephone to union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for the early release of 250,000 tonnes of levy sugar to the state and urged him to make sugar available to Madhya Pradesh from Maharashtra mills at a reasonable price.