The capital district administration has launched a ‘video complaint campaign’ by which people who come across instances of price hike may upload the videos of such instances to the inbox of the administration’s Facebook page. The administration also announced that the identity of the complainant would be kept confidential. This is a welcome move and already people are starting to put up such videos on Facebook. Taking undue advantage of the lockdown period, the prices of commodities have been hiked by the shopkeepers. The skyrocketing price rise has made life miserable for the denizens of the capital region.
Even though the district administration has issued price lists of the essential items, none of the shopkeepers is following it. The shopkeepers claim that they are also buying items at higher rates from the wholesaler and therefore are forced to sell at high rates in the market. The administration should keep an eye on the wholesalers too. Now that the DA has provided a platform, the people should make good use of it and report against those shops selling items at much higher rates than the one fixed by the DA. However, the administration should make sure that frivolous complaints are not entertained. It is quite possible that some people might misuse the platform for their own personal benefit and to settle personal scores. The administration should be wary of such complaints.