Govt sets up task force to check rising veggie prices

The task force will be headed by Rajesh Singh,CEO of the West Bengal Agricultural Marketing Board. The other members will be drawn from the Enforcement Branch,the police,municipal corporations and associations of vegetable retailers.

Teams of officials from the police and civic bodies will visit the markets for assessment and submit their reports to the task force in the evening.

“Heavy rain has damaged vegetables no doubt but that cannot explain the steep hike in the prices of vegetables. A section of middlemen are making huge profits by exploiting the situation. We cannot tolerate this,” Mamata,who presided over the meeting,told the retailers.

In the past week,Kolkata and the adjoining areas witnessed an enormous increase in the prices of vegetables with brinjal and bhindi selling between Rs 80 and Rs 100 per kg. In fact,very few vegetables sold for less than Rs 30 per kilo.

On Saturday,Mamata herself visited three markets to check the prices. She said a group of middlemen were buying vegetables from farmers at low prices and selling them at high prices to retailers.

And on Monday,the chief minister presided over a meeting of senior ministers and top state government officials to devise ways to curb price rise.

At Tuesday’s meeting,some representatives of the retailers alleged that the Agricultural Price Marketing Committees under the Agricultural Marketing Board were charging levies on items sold by farmers at village markets and that it was unjust.

“We will look into it. The marketing board will be totally restructured,’’ Mamata said.