From scarcity to abundance. Against the backdrop of sufficient supply of masks and sanitisers in the country, the Government has now taken out the two items from the purview of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. In other words, the Government hopes that the huge volume will automatically check prices of these two items that are considered important for maintaining hygiene during the Covid-19 pandemic. Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nandan said on Tuesday that there is sufficient supply of the two items now and the ‘essentials’ tag was no longer required. On March 13, the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry had declared face masks and hand sanitisers as essential commodities for 100 days to boost supply and prevent hoarding of these items in its fight to check the spread of coronavirus.