Stocking protective masks and hand sanitizers in a bid to sell them later for a higher price might land shopkeepers and suppliers in jail, Ranchi Sub-Divisional Officer Lokesh Mishra said on Saturday, adding that the clampdown on shopkeepers and whole sellers was initiated in the wake of the COVID 19 hysteria.
“There is provision of imprisonment of up to seven years if any person is found stocking up hand sanitizers and protective masks with the intent to sell the products at a higher price in black market,” Mishra said, adding that no such cases were found in Ranchi as of now, but the administration will not spare any person found guilty of such practices.
The District Administration’s decision came close on the heels of the Centre’s inclusion of hand sanitizers and masks under Essential Commodities Act 1955, thereby, giving State governments control over production, quality management and distribution of the two products.
The State Governments can carry out operations against order speculators and those involved in black marketing and overpricing, an official of the Consumer Affairs Ministry told a leading English news website on Saturday afternoon. Offenders may be punished with an imprisonment of seven years or fine or both, he added.
The demand for hand sanitizers and surgical masks skyrocketed since Coronavirus entered India through Kerala earlier this year. In Ranchi, N95 masks disappeared from medicine stores and even hospitals. Shopkeepers said that there was no supply of masks in Jharkhand. Since the demand for N95 masks was high in Delhi, the manufacturers could not supply masks to Ranchi, they added.
Meanwhile, the Government asked all State-run hospitals to stock sufficient masks and other products used for protection against Coronavirus. Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) has arranged for 450 pieces of N95 masks and all State-run hospitals have set up special isolation wards for patients infected by the virus. Doctors say that three-layered surgical masks are as effective as N95 masks in protection against the virus. N95 masks, they say, are only meant for use by medical practitioners and caregivers.
While the virus has claimed over 5000 lives across the globe, primarily in Italy and China, it has affected more than 80 people in India and caused two deaths. No cases of Coronavirus have been reported in Jharkhand so far. However, nearly 100 people here are under observation after returning from countries affected by the virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Coronavirus a global pandemic.
