Bhubaneswar: The state government Wednesday came down heavily on unscrupulous traders hoarding potatoes, thereby creating an artificial crisis in the market. In order to curb such practice, the government has directed all districts Collectors to intensify enforcement activities and arrest the traders storing the vegetable beyond permissible limits.
Talking to the media here Wednesday, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FS&CW) Minister Surya Narayan Patro said, “We have instructed Collectors and supply inspectors to arrest the traders engaged in illegal storage of potatoes.”
While each potato wholesaler in Cuttack are allowed to stock a maximum of 500 quintals, those in Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Puri are permitted to stock a maximum of 350 quintals, Patro said, adding, wholesalers in other cities and towns have been allowed to store 150-quintal potatoes each.”
Recently, in a letter to the Collectors, FS&CW secretary VV Yadav stated, “Keep a close watch on availability and arrival of potato in the market and ensure availability of the same to the consumers at reasonable prices. If required, action may be taken against hoarders and unscrupulous traders under provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.”
The government’s directive came in the wake of an alarming increase in the prices of the essential commodity in various markets in the state. This kitchen essential is currently being sold at `18 per kg in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, while consumers have to shell out `15 in other towns like Rourkela, Sambalpur, Jeypore and Balasore.
The government has also asked the Collectors of the border districts to ensure smooth supplies potato from the producing states to Odisha, sources said.
According to sources, there is less production of potatoes in states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, the vegetable’s price has seen an upward trend in Odisha in recent, the source said.
While officials in different districts have launched raids on various markets to check hoarding, questions are being raised on the effective implementation of BJD government’s Potato Mission, which was launched in 2014-15 to deal with the frequent potato crisis in the state. The mission aimed to make state-self sufficient in tuber production and storage in three years. However, there has been no improvement in situation even after the expiry of the deadline.
The state government has also failed to meet the target to increase the cold storage capacity of potato to 7.05 lakh tonnes by the end of 2017-18 fiscal. On the other hand, the Potato Mission had fixed a target of producing 10.12 lakh MT of potato as well as to increase the production area to 60,000 hectares by 2017-18. As of now, the vegetable is being cultivated only in 1600 to 1700 hectares.
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