Sir, the Essential Commodities Act was passed five years ago and when the Minister yesterday came with an amending Bill, we expected that he would give us a brief report on the working of this measure for the last few years. But unfortunately, we are kept in the dark in regard to the exact working of the Act and the nature of the difficulties the Minister is facing. Sir, as far as I know, many of the provisions of this enactment have been observed more in violation by his agents at the State level. The Food Minister may be very earnest, may be very able and may be very anxious to see that the various provisions of the Act are implemented in the most effective manner at the State level but unfortunately his agents at the State level are not equally enthusiastic or equally anxious to observe the provisions of this enactment. The most important objectives of this enactment are to control the supply and distribution of commodities and to maintain a stable price level. In regard to both these aspects, I am afraid that the Government has failed to realise the objectives in view. Some time past when there was scarcity of foodgrains, attempts were made to make procurement from certain wholesale merchants and from rice mills. In my own State, I know of many instances of such procurement where, after making known that certain things had to be done and certain steps had to be taken by the merchant community, nothing was done later on by the Government, when they found that these very orders of the Government were violated. As a result of the violations, there was a consequent rise in the prices of foodgrains. In respect of other commodities like iron and steel, paper, etc., we see a lot of speculative activities, but the provisions of the Act have not been brought to bear on them. Perhaps, no case of prosecution was launched against those people who contravened the various provisions of the Act. We are interested to know in how many cases the Government have taken steps to prosecute individuals who have violated the various sections of the Act. The Minister said that the powers under the Act were not adequate. We sympathise with the Food Minister but I want to know what action has been taken in this regard by the various State Governments. In regard to the amending provision, I want to know from the Minister what would be his difficulty even if minor offences are taken to courts of law for instance, the Motor Vehicles Act, deals with various offences, both major and minor, and various minor offences under the Act are taken to courts and people are prosecuted. What is the difficulty in taking these cases of a minor nature to courts of law? There, the people will have some safety that they will get a hearing and if the offences are really offences, then they would be prosecuted. Otherwise, they will be acquitted. Here, the Minister says that there should be a security deposit. If there is a violation of a particular provision of the enactment, then the executive authority will have the power either to confiscate a part of the amount or the whole of the amount. We are clothing the executive authority with more powers. I do not grudge giving powers to the executive authority, provided they are used properly and effectively, and in a most fair manner. But unfortunately, there have been discriminations, apart from the ineffectiveness of the various provisions. Wherever these provisions were used, there had been discriminatory use of these provisions against a few or in favour of a few. Normally, when officers are clothed with more powers, there is large scope for corruption. I feel that it would be desirable to avoid such malpractices and it would be desirable, I think, that even for minor offences the parties should have a chance to defend their actions. I do not think that this problem of dealing with minor offences will become complex or complicated in any way, if we take them to courts of law. I want a reply from the Minister in what way he is suffering from a handicap in dealing with minor offences or offences of a technical nature. The hon. member made the point that even if this thing was acceptable to the House, he did not know what amount would be demanded as security. So, the Minister should tell us what amount is normally expected from a licensee in all cases and what the offences are which are of a technical or minor nature which he has in view. We are not told which are major offences and which are minor offences. Clarifications on these points are necessary. I wish that the Act which came into effect long ago was implemented properly. I know that the Minister here is very earnest in implementing it but his colleagues at the State level and at the Central level are disappointing him. Submit