Vegetable prices

The editorial published in your daily on July 11, 2020 is a timely one that shows the failure of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs and Agriculture departments. As stated, the producers and the end users are the worst affected ones. While the fear of vegetables getting perished make farmers sell their vegetables at throwaway prices, the prevailing lockdown makes consumers buy whatever they get paying through their noses. The middlemen, on the other hand, go with maximum profits. Some of the wholesalers complain that they have to dole out cash at various checkpoints to keep their trucks transporting vegetables moving. This is one of the major reasons behind high prices. However, such explanations cannot justify eight to ten times hike in vegetable prices.

A good news is that the Chief Minister has directly taken step this time. He has instructed the police to see that vehicles carrying vegetables can move easily. He has also instructed the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs and Agriculture departments to see that prices fixed by the government are strictly followed. We expect that unscrupulous vendors selling vegetables will not be able to cheat the public from now onwards.

Bikash Barpujari,

Beltola, Guwahati.