Bhubaneswar: In an ongoing tussle with the state government over ‘State Potato Mission,’ the Odisha Cold Storage Association, which has reportedly suffered losses worth more than Rs 15 lakh, has now called for a demonstration at the Secretariat.
As the state produces only 20 per cent of the demand for potatoes, the government launched the ‘State Potato Mission’ in 2015 to cater to the acute crisis when West Bengal stopped supplying the vegetable to Odisha. A task force, set up then, had recommended establishment of about 112 new cold storages in the state both by the public as well as private entities.
However, the promoters of cold storages alleged that the government did not fulfill any of its commitments, including increasing potato cultivation, seed production, credit linkage or research and development. This has allegedly pushed the cold storage owners, who initially invested about Rs 10 crore, on the brink of bankruptcy.
“The government was well aware of the fact that there were more than 100 defunct cold storages in the state. Then why did the government introduce new players in the field as it was pretty evident that these cold stores too would become sick unless there was sufficient storable produce,” complained Shyam Pansari, president of the association.
It is worth mentioning here that Orissa POST had reported January 12 that the BJD government in the state had failed to deliver its promises regarding setting up cold storage facilities in all the blocks of the state as stated in the party’s 2014 election manifesto. There are only 126 cold storages in the 314 blocks in 30 districts of the state. Among these, 80 are defunct and 46 others are located only in only 16 districts.
Most of the cold storages that have come up during the State Potato Mission have made capital investments of more than Rs 8 crore. However, the actual cost of subsidy is being calculated at Rs 4 crore.
“Promoters were asked to install high-end technologies, thereby assuring them low electric consumption. But it appears that the new units consume as much electricity as the older ones. This reflects the utter failure and negligence of the government,” Pansari added.
The cold storage operators are already on strike for the fourth consecutive day Friday. This has resulted in restrictions on any fresh loadings. Reportedly the strike has affected more than 1,000 farmers in the state and 12,000 workers employed at the cold storage
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