Essential Items Act To Be Scrapped

The Essential Commodities (Special Provisions) Act, 1981, is likely to be repealed in the winter session of Parliament and the Act of 1955 aimed at larger production, distribution, pricing and meeting shortages is likely to be re-enacted, as demanded by the trading community. Announcing this in New Delhi yesterday, Nitin Mukherjee, secretary, department of consumer affairs in the ministry of civil supplies, stressed the need to change the mindset of people who implement the laws. We have to see how suitable training programmes can be framed, he said at a seminar on distributive trade organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Assocham) and PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Dwelling on the origins of the Acts, Mukherjee said that although these laws were formulated mainly to cope with shortages, this was not the only factor. The other was lack of trust in the business community, he said.

Mukherjee said the government would prefer a climate of trust. In this connection, he urged the industry to formulate a code of conduct for traders within a time-frame.

About reforms of other laws, he said the government was committed to transparent and simpler laws to prevent harassment. An expert group has been set up in this respect under instruction from the Prime Minister.

Earlier, Assocham president H L Somany, pleading for repeal of the 1981 Act, said the list of essential commodities is long enough to punish any trader. It created vast avenues for corruption too, he said.

Somany urged the government to formulate a national distribution trade policy. Such a policy will enable the government to assess the impact at regular intervals and also help introduce new elements which are essential in the changing economic conditions, he added.