With the Centre keen on cracking down on hoarders, smugglers and black marketers with the help of the State governments to curb inflation, the implementation of the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) in Tamil Nadu has come under sharp focus.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at an inter-ministerial meeting in New Delhi, called for better coordination between the Centre and the States to crack down on hoarders and smugglers at a time when monsoon was predicted to be bleak and food production was expected to be affected nationwide.
A source in the Union Agriculture Ministry said the Centre would monitor the implementation of the ECA, as steady supply was crucial to keeping prices in check.
Official data revealed that since May 2011, 27,338 cases had been detected in the State. Of these, 12,803 cases related to PDS rice, with the official machinery seizing 34,733 quintals. In 2014 alone, 4,167 cases have been filed. Sources said since 2012, the Civil Supplies Crime Investigation Division had been instructed to impose a fine on the value of the vehicle seized and not that of the commodity confiscated. “This shift, the result of a careful reading of the Act, has made a huge difference. We see that the size of vehicles used for smuggling has reduced, which, in turn, is brining down the quantity,” a senior official said. In all, 4066 vehicles have been seized since May 2011. A list of habitual offenders has also been prepared to improve vigil.
However, one worrying issue has been that only 148 of the total cases detected between 2011 and 2013 had ended in conviction.
