Potato Import From West Bengal To Resume In 2 Days: Odisha Food Supplies Minister

Bhubaneswar: After capping potato price at Rs 32/kg, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department Minister Krushna Chandra Patra on Friday said that the issue will be resolved within two days.

“We had discussions with the officials of West Bengal. They said the indefinite strike by potato traders in West Bengal was called off on July 24. It will take two to three more days to solve all the related problems. The vehicles carrying potatoes will reach Odisha within a day or two and the situation will soon return to normalcy,” he told reporters, after an emergency meeting, which was called following the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision to pull back potato-laden trucks ostensibly to avoid scarcity of the commodity in that state.

The minister added that Odisha has sufficient stock to cater to the demands of consumers for the next seven to eight days and the officials have been instructed to take stringent action against traders found selling potatoes above Rs 32/kg.

He also inspected potato godowns in the morning and warned hoarders and black marketers against troubling the common people by creating artificial scarcity.

The restriction on movement of potatoes from the state has made the tuber go beyond the reach of common people in Odisha with retail price touching Rs 45-50/kg.

Earlier, Patra had asserted that the government would import potatoes from Uttar Pradesh to meet the demand and control the price rise if needed. “We are in talks with the Uttar Pradesh government. If the need arises, we will give the necessary permission to procure tuber from them.”

He also criticised former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik over his letter to Mamata, requesting her intervention to ensure smooth supply of potatoes to Odisha. “You didn’t even build a cold storage in the state in 24 years.  ‘Potato Mission’ and  ‘Onion Mission’ have failed. Your government has failed in everything. You have failed the people of Odisha. Writing a letter doesn’t solve a problem,” Patra said, while requesting him not to play politics over such issues.