Junga hotels, eateries and meat shops are charging exorbitant prices

In Junga, a town adjacent to the capital, goat and chicken meat is being sold without inspection and at high prices. Furthermore, sweets sold in hotels and restaurants are also significantly more expensive than in other smaller towns. Hotels and restaurants are charging exorbitant prices for food items. Surprisingly, the Food and Civil Supplies Department has never conducted surprise inspections of the price lists of shopkeepers and hotel and restaurant owners in the Junga area. Furthermore, the Health Department has also not inspected the quality of the meat. Goat and chicken meat is being sold without nets or refrigerators. Flies buzz around the meat in the open. In Junga and Koti, goat meat is selling for ₹600 and chicken for ₹280 per kilogram, while in other areas, goat meat is selling for ₹550 and chicken for ₹250.
Similarly, in addition to Junga, prices of food and meat are skyrocketing in Janedghat and Koti. Although these towns have small eateries, due to the high tourist traffic in Koti and Janedghat, eateries owners are charging exorbitant prices for food and sweets, affecting local residents. This suggests that the Food and Civil Supplies Department has no control over hotels, eateries, and sweet shops. People also say that in every district, the District Magistrate (DC) sets the rates for food, milk, meat, and other food items served in hotels and eateries to prevent exploitation. It is surprising that in Shimla district, the District Magistrate has not set food prices, leading to hotels, eateries, confectioners, and other shopkeepers charging exorbitant prices.
Ranjana Sood, the Food and Supply Inspector in charge of Junga Tehsil, stated that she has additional workload in Junga Tehsil in addition to Theog, which is why she is unable to devote time. She added that surprise inspections of hotels, restaurants, and other commercial shops in Junga Tehsil will be conducted soon.