WEST
BENGAL
Arbitrary Handling of
Potato Crisis
From Our Special
Correspondent in Kolkata
POTATO
prices, along with
the skyrocketing prices of other vegetables, have squeezed the
consumers to the
last. Inept and directionless handling of the situation by the
state government
has not only created distress in West
Bengal,
it had also produced unfortunate tensions in neighbouring
states.
West Bengal produces
largest quantity of potatoes in the country. Despite that,
potato prices began
to rise in October and reached as high as Rs 18 to Rs 29 per
kg. After long
silence, the state government
declared that the maximum price would be Rs 13,
already a rise of around Rs 5. The retail sellers were
targeted and
within few days potato vanished from the market. Despite
rhetoric, the chief
minister did not touch the speculative traders and big
wholesale businessmen.
The state government even did not try to clear the stock in
the cold storages.
The futile attempt to sell potatoes directly by the state
agencies were restricted
to big markets in Kolkata, that too only symbolically.
The
steps led to a situation
where the potato farmers are deprived of fair prices and there
are serious
indications that they will be forced to resort to distress
sale in the coming
season. West Bengal produces
about 10 million
tonnes of potatoes every year. Of this, only 5.5 million
tonnes are
domestically consumed. At present, close to 1.4 million tonnes
of potatoes and
potato seeds are in cold storage. In the next two months, the
total consumption
of both would not be more than 1.2 million tonnes. The
hoarding and speculative
business led to higher prices for the consumers and declining
prices for the
cultivators.
On
the other hand, West Bengal
state administration has banned potato trading
outside the state. Police cracked down and stopped dozens of
potato laden
trucks from leaving Bengal.
This has led to
acute shortage of potatoes in Odisha and Jharkhand in
particular. West Bengal is
the largest supplier of potatoes to
Odisha, sending some 350 to 400 truckloads daily. The ban has resulted
in spiraling prices in
Odisha. The request from Odisha chief minister to ease the ban
has been
rejected. In a disturbing incident, activists in Odisha
blocked trucks from
Andhra Pradesh headed for West Bengal
with
fish and eggs.
Suryakanta
Misra, opposition
leader in West Bengal, has
urged both the
states to discuss and resolve the crisis. Misra said,
unnecessary
confrontations would harm people of both the states. There is
no viable reason
to withhold potatoes in the cold storages now. On the one
hand, the people are
not getting potatoes and on the other large quantities are
being perished in
the cold storage.
People's Democracy