All News

The retail groceries and food stores operating in Ward-7 of the Kathekhola Rural Municipality were monitored in the presence of INSEC on September 16. During the monitoring conducted under the coordination of Rural Municipality Vice Chairperson Tej Bahadur Thapa, along with the police team, Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), journalists, and chiefs of various rural municipalities, it was found that expired non-edible items were being sold in nearly all the grocery stores. According to Vice Chairperson Tej Bahadur Thapa, out of 27 shops operating in Ward No. 7, 15 were found to be operating without registration at the local level. The monitoring team seized and destroyed expired beverages, flour, biscuits, and noodles from the shops. Vice Chairperson Thapa also reported that expired grocery items, some of which had been expired for years, were being sold, posing a health risk to consumers. The monitoring team has requested that unregistered shops at the local level be immediately registered, that unrenovated businesses be renewed, and that materials not be sold that harm consumers’ health.

Article 36 of the Constitution of Nepal guarantees the Rights relating to food: (1) Every citizen shall have the right relating to food. (2) Every citizen shall have the right to be safe from the state of being in danger of life from the scarcity of food. Similarly, Article 44 provides the rights of the consumer: (1) Every consumer shall have the right to obtain quality goods and services. (2) A person who has suffered injury from any substandard goods or services shall have the right to obtain compensation as per the law.

As it is the responsibility of all levels of government to uphold fundamental rights and observe the constitution, local governments have been conducting regular monitoring to protect civil rights. Tej Bahadur Thapa stated that during the initial monitoring, the team, which included journalists and human rights activists, only destroyed non-edible items. He warned that if monitoring does not improve, further action will be taken. During the monitoring, Tej Bahadur Thapa, Vice Chairperson of the Rural Municipality, revealed that retailers were being cheated by wholesalers from the headquarters. He noted that expired goods, which had been unsold for six months, were sold to traders only a few days ago.

During the monitoring, it has been found that most of the traders are not aware that they should check the sell-by date when buying goods from wholesalers. They have expressed their commitment to look at the expiration date of each item while selling in the future.

Srijana Panta