The Ministry of Supplies is planning to open fair price shops in 36 locations across the country to provide essential commodities at relatively lower prices during the upcoming festivals of Dashain and Tihar.

“The plan needs to be approved by the Cabinet,” spokesperson for the ministry Ananda Ram Regmi said. “We will send the proposal to the Cabinet by the end of this week,” he said.

According to the proposal, 11 shops will be opened in the Kathmandu Valley and the rest will be scattered across the country. Shops are planned to be opened in the 14 districts that were badly hit by last year’s earthquake.

The stores are slated to open their doors on September 17 and will serve customers till November 6. The government has planned to offer discounts on the various commodities that will be sold here.

Customers will get a flat Rs5 discount per kg on 15 different types of rice. Likewise, they will get a discount of Rs5 per kg of buckwheat, beans and sugar. Salt will be sold at a discount of Rs2 per kg.

Meanwhile, Dairy Development Corporation will offer a discount on ghee and paneer of Rs10 per kg. Nepal Oil Corporation has reduced the price of cooking gas by Rs50 per cylinder with an eye on the coming festival season.

Regmi said the government planned to sell 3,000 goats, including chyangra goats, at subsidised rates. Thousands of animals are slaughtered for the feast of Dashain, and chyangra, a type of goat found in the high mountainous regions, is one of the highly sought after sacrificial animals.

The government has traditionally been operating fair price shops almost annually prior to major festivals such as Dashain, Tihar and Chhath. They are aimed at providing a level of relief to low-income groups from soaring prices that usually accompany festivals.

Last year, the fair price shops couldn’t operate very well due to the trade embargo imposed by India.