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Essential commodities act
The Essential Commodities Act, passed on April 1, 1955, aims to regulate the production and supply of essential commodities, with currently 7 listed items. It empowers the central government to control their price and distribution, while state governments implement specific control orders. The act addresses black marketing and includes penalties for violations related to record-keeping, with jail terms ranging from three months to a year.
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Essential commodities act
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- 2. INTRODUCTION Passed onApril 1 , 1955 The main purpose of this Act was to control the production, distribution and supply of, trade and commerce in certain commodities. The government has listed a number of commodities as essential commodities - In 1989, 70 essential commodities were listed under the act and presently only 7 commodities are listed
- 3. OBJECTIVE Ensure theavailability of essential commodities to consumers and to protect them from exploitation by traders. This act empowers the Central government to: 1. Regulate or prohibit production, distribution, supply, storage etc. 2. Control price of certain commodities which have been declared under the Act as essential
- 4. IMPLEMENTATION The implementationlies with the State Governments and Union Territories Administrations. State governments issue various control orders w.r.t trading of some essential commodities like pulses, food grains, kerosene, sugar etc. Items listed under the act are reviewed from time to time as per the economic policies, production, demand, and supply.
- 5. CONTROL The governmentsalso have the power to fix price limits. Selling the particular commodities above the limit will attract penalties. Black marketing of essential commodities was a major problem in the past and this has now been controlled to a large extent. Only those commodities considered essential to protect the interest of farmers and the large section of people “below the poverty line” are proposed to be retained under this Act.
- 6. Penal provisions Atpresent, section 7(1) specifies offences which include violations with respect to maintaining records, books, filing returns and so on. Such offences are punishable with a jail term of between three months and a year.
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