Potato crisis: Government set for price intervention through NAFED supply
BHUBANESWAR : Unable to regulate retail price of the potato even after normal flow of the tuber from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, the state government has decided to provide the kitchen essential to consumers at a subsidised rate through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED).
In the first phase of its market intervention initiative, the state government has procured 60 tonnes of potato from Uttar Pradesh through NAFED and the same will be available to consumers at fair price shops of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Jajpur, Balasore, Balangir, Sambalpur and Rourkela at a subsidised rate of `30 a kg.
The sale of potato through NAFED started on Monday at various locations in the state capital city, said a senior officer of the civil supply department.
“After the lifting of the embargo on inter-state movement of potato by West Bengal government, normal supply to Odisha from the neigbouring state has been restored. There has been uninterrupted potato supply from Uttar Pradesh as Odisha traders do not want to rely solely on West Bengal due to volatility of TMC government. There is sufficient stock of the tuber everywhere,” said secretary of Kuberpuri Bayabasayee Sangh Shakti Shankar Mishra.
Mishra said there is absolutely no reason for retail traders to sell potato at `45 a kg when the wholesale price is `28. After deducting `2 a kg towards transportation cost, charging `15 more as profit is criminal.
Similarly, the wholesale price of onion is `30-`32 a kg whereas the retail price is not climbing down from `60. All retailers prefer to lift third grade quality of potato and onion and sell at the price of first quality to maximise their profit.
“It is difficult for general consumers to keep tab on wholesale price of essential commodities on a daily basis but not for the state government. The supplies department has an intelligence wing to inform the government on prices of all essential commodities on daily basis. The enforcement wing has the job to regulate the market price. It goes without saying that the two agencies of the government are not doing their job properly,” he added.
Justifying the higher price of potato, a retail trader in the Unit-IV market said the quality of the tuber available at wholesale market is very low grade and there is substantial waste, say eight to 10 kg in a 50 kg packet. The retailers have to charge more to make up for their loss.