(a) whether the Union Government are aware of the increasing cases of adulteration,
hoarding and blackmarketing of essential commodities;
(b) if so, the details thereof, Statewise, till date; and
(c) the steps being taken by the Union Government against the persons involved in
these cases and also to stop the recurrence of such cases in future?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI V. SREENIVASA PRASAD)
(a) to (c): The Essential Commodities Act, 1955 is in force. Under the Act,
the State Governments/UT Administrations have been delegated most of the powers to
issue Control Orders for regulating the production, supply and distribution of
essential commodities and to take enforcement action. The State Governments are
also empowered to take action against hoarders and blackmarketeers under the Prevention
of Blackmarketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980.
Information received from the State Governments/UTs about action taken by them under
these two Acts for the years 2001 & 2002 (received upto 31.3.2002) are enclosed as
Annexures I, II and III.
The State Governments/UT administrations are requested from time to time to take
effective action to prevent hoarding & blackmarketing of Essential Commodities.
ANNEXURE-I
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN PART (A) TO (C) OF REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4214 FOR 19/04/2002
ACTION TAKEN UNDER ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES ACT, 1955 INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM STATES/UTS FOR THE YEAR 2001
W.E.F. 1.1.2001
Sl.No STATE/UT No. of No. of No. of No. of Value of Reported raids persons persons persons goods upto made arrested prosecuted convicted confiscated
(in Rs.lakh)
1 Andhra Pradesh 4665 840 9 2 190.59 March 2 Assam 280 4 0.89 September+ 3 Arunachal Pradesh Nil July 4 Bihar Not Reported 5 Chhattishgarh Not Reported 6 Delhi 66 74 18 Not Given December 7 Gujarat 44869 70 72 241.45 December 8 Goa 1019 3 December 9 Haryana 31 5 9.17 December## 10 Himachal Pradesh Nil November 11 Jammu & Kashmir 543 529 4 14 December 12 Jharkhand Not Reported 13 Karnataka 1563 109 354 3 12.76 December# 14 Kerela 5158 6 16.9 December+++ 15 Madhya Pradesh Not Reported 16 Maharashtra 962 1403 318 203.62 December 17 Manipur 208 December$ 18 Meghalaya 22 December 19 Mizoram 86 December 20 Nagaland Nil November 21 Orissa 703 31 82 - 26.431 December 22 Punjab 35898 4 1 - 1.44 December$$ 23 Rajasthan 69 16 36 6.5 November 24 Sikkim 1 1 1 December $$$ 25 Tamil Nadu 8506 1720 4003 3182 385.94 December# 26 Tripura 138 9 33 7.86 December 27 Uttaranchal Not Reported 28 Uttar Pradesh 60004 41 60 - 93.63 December# 29 West Bengal 538 372 72 - 131 December++ 30 A & N Islands 134 March 31 Chandigarh Nil December### 32 D & N Haveli 3 6 4 0.74 December 33 Daman & Diu Nil July 34 Lakshadweep Nil December 35 Pondicherry 29 14 14 - 0.29 December
Total 165495 5253 5066 3219 1330.21 Statement showing information received upto 31.03.2002
+ - Except January & February ++ - Except August & October +++ - Except March
$ - Except November $$ - Except June&September $$$ - Except May & October
# - Except September ## - Except October ### - Except August to November
W.E.F. 1.1.2002
Sl.No STATE/UT No. of No. of No. of No. of Value of Reported raids persons persons persons goods Upto made arrested prosecuted convicted confiscated
(in Rs.lakh)
1 Andhra Pradesh Not Reported 2 Assam Not Reported 3 Arunachal Pradesh Not Reported 4 Bihar Not Reported 5 Chhattisgarh Not Reported 6 Delhi 4 2 January 7 Gujarat 3309 3 19.67 February + 8 Goa Not Reported 9 Haryana 1 1 1 14 January 10 Himachal Pradesh Nil January 11 Jammu & Kashmir Not Reported 12 Jharkhand Not Reported 13 Karnataka 120 2 0.28 January 14 Kerela Not Reported 15 Madhya Pradesh Not Reported 16 Maharashtra 95 156 88 10.34 January 17 Manipur 21 January 18 Meghalaya 5 February 19 Mizoram 13 January 20 Nagaland Nil January 21 Orissa 94 0.901 February 22 Punjab Not Reported 23 Rajasthan Not Reported 24 Sikkim Not Reported 25 Tamil Nadu 1010 17 364 18.37 January 26 Tripura Not Reported 27 Uttaranchal Not Reported 28 Uttar Pradesh 373 1.95 March 29 West Bengal 65 35 13 13.08 January 30 A & N Islands Not Reported 31 Chandigarh Nil January 32 D & N Haveli Nil January 33 Daman & Diu Not Reported 34 Lakshadweep Nil February 35 Pondicherry 7 2 0.76 February
Total 5117 215 469 0 79.351 Statement showing information received upto 31.03.2002 + - Except January
States 2001 2002 (upto 31.03.2002)
Gujarat 97 24 Tamil Nadu 37 4 Madhya Pradesh 2 - Uttar Pradesh 7 - Orrisa 5 1
TOTAL 148 29
Note : Detention under the Act has not been reported by other States/UTs.