Traders’ body decries Government fiat on potato stock limit

BHUBANESWAR: With the State Government imposing stock holding limits on wholesalers in a bid to rein in prices of potato, a face-off between the traders and the State Government appears imminent. Dubbing the State Government’s fiat on potato stock holding as a means to harass traders, Odisha Byabasayi Mahasangh, an umbrella body of the trading communities, has threatened to stop procuring potato from other States, if the instruction to district collectors was not immediately withdrawn. Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Surya Narayan Patro on Wednesday said potato stock limit has been fixed at 500 quintals for wholesalers in Cuttack, while the limit is 350 quintals in cities such as Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Puri and Rourkela.

For other places, the stock limit is 150 quintals, he added. The department has issued instructions to all district collectors and civil supplies officials asking them to take action against potato hoarders under provisions of Essential Commodities Act, 1955. In a letter to district collectors, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Secretary Vir Vikram Yadav has asked them to keep a close watch on supply of potatoes in the market and ensure availability of the same to consumers at a reasonable price. “It has become unbearable on the part of the traders to take the stream of invectives hurled by the Minister. Calling traders black marketeers, profiteers and hoarders is an affront to their dignity,” said Mahasangh president Sudhakar Panda.

Claiming that potato prices in Odisha are comparatively cheaper than other States, Panda said the retail price of the tuber in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, two major potato producing States, is Rs 20 and Rs 22 per kg, respectively. The vegetable is being sold at Rs 24 per kg in Delhi, Rs 27 in Mumbai, Rs 28 in Visakhapatman and Rs 30 in Hyderabad. The rise in the potato price is an all-India phenomenon. Taking action against the traders will not serve any purpose. Rather the Government should take them into confidence and find ways to ensure smooth supply of the vegetable by keeping the price at a reasonable rate, Panda said. Describing the stock holding limit an absurd idea, Panda cautioned that such a move will further deepen the crisis.

Noting that 90 per cent of the State’s potato requirement is met from other other States, he said major mandis of the State had to keep adequate stocks to ensure smooth supply. On an average, Bhubaneswar Mandi required a supply of about 1,200 tonnes (12,000 quintals) of potato to meet the demand of Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh and parts of Ganjam and Cuttack districts. A stock limit of 350 quintals will create a scarcity situation which may push the price further for which the Government will be responsible, Panda said.