New Delhi, March 29 (IANS): In order to prevent hoarding and speculation by unscrupulous elements, the Central government on Friday announced that all retail and wholesale traders of wheat in the country will have to declare their stock position on the official portal with effect from April 1.

The official portal can be accessed at https://evegoils.nic.in/wheat/login.html)

The stock position will have to be updated every Friday until further orders, the directive said.

The Department of Food and Public Distribution said it is maintaining a close watch over the stock position of wheat and rice to control prices and ensure easy availability in the country.

The order is applicable to traders/wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors in all states and union territories.

All the respective legal entities will have to ensure that stocks are regularly and correctly disclosed on the portal.

The order states that the Wheat Stock Limit is expiring on March 31 for all categories of entities in states and UTs. Thereafter, the entities have to disclose the wheat stock on the portal.

Rice stock declaration by all categories of entities is already in place. Any entity which is not registered on the Portal, may register themselves and start disclosing the wheat and rice stock on every Friday. Now, all legal entities have to declare their Wheat and Rice stock on the portal regularly, the order added.