Karnataka: Now you can weigh your goods at supermarkets!

Bengaluru: Food and civil supplies minister, U T Khader on Tuesday warned people against allowing others to use their Jan Dhan accounts to deposit their black money as they could lose their BPL or APL cards in the process.

“These accounts are linked to Aadhar and PAN cards. If such huge amounts are deposited, there is always the threat of losing benefits under BPL or APL cards. People should not give in to the temptations offered by black money hoarders,'' he underlined.

The minister, who was speaking to reporters here,  also warned traders against hoarding of essential commodities like rice and pulses, saying they must go by government guidelines that allowed wholesale dealers to stock upto 1000 quintals, and retailers up to 100 quintals. “If any one is caught hoarding more than the prescribed quantities, they will invite stringent action,” he stressed.

Moving on, he said the government had decided to make it mandatory for hyper markets to install weighing machines outside their establishments to help people cross-check the weight of their produce. Noting that most hyper markets had their own brand of atta, rice, sugar and other products, he revealed there were growing complaints about the packed products weighing less than claimed.

“The markets will pay for the weighing machines that will be supplied by the legal metrology department. It will calibrate the machines and seal them to make sure they are not tampered with,” Mr Khader explained, adding that the government was in the process of filling up vacancies in the department. They had shot up to over 40 per cent mainly due to its proposed privatisation, which had now been put off.

Dismissing reports about shortage of salt in the state, Mr Khader said the rumours started after someone stole a bag of salt kept outside a shop and sold it for Rs 20 a kg in Kalaburagi district.