Court obligation on potato transit

The Government of West Bengal has faced the wrath of the High court, as their order for prohibition of interstate transfer of potatoes has been declined by the court. When potatoes became unavailable in the market, The Government tried to impose a price tag and stopped the transfer of potatoes to other states. One businessman had filed a suit against the order and the Honorable High Court has raised its observation yesterday. The defense lawyer Mr. Arunava Ghosh has tried to mention to quote the order as unconstitutional and he had clearly expressed that such an order needs the approval of the President. However, the tendency to control the market by the Government of West Bengal has against raised a...

Prohibition of potato supplies have shown its ripple effects

The decision of the Government of West Bengal in prohibition of potato supplies across the states has created a ripple effect. The people from the adjacent states have been reported to obstruct the supply of fish and onion from their states. West Bengal Government had to take a desperate decision to stop the supply of potatoes to the other states, which had created a scarcity of potatoes in the adjacent states mainly when some of them had been battered by the disastrous Phailin. It is heard that there had been incidents of road obstacles and others. It is expected that the Governmental authorities can resolve such bilateral issues in their mutual discussions. However, the market will be plunged with new potatoes...

Potatoes: the problem creator

Potatoes have created a churning in West Bengal. The scarcity of potatoes in Kolkata and its adjacent areas has spread its far reaching tentacles even in districts. The news reports reveal that one potato seller has even committed suicide. There have been reports of loot of potatoes from the market. The presence of the vibrant TMC leaders could only aggravate the situation, but failed to come up even with a solace. The Government with their stringent policies has failed to maintain the right and effective supply chain management system, which have certainly irritated the West Bengal citizens. The unnecessary grip of the Governmental authorities has been duly criticized all over the state. We expect the Government to act on a war footing basis to relieve the Bengal...

Vanishing act of potatoes from West Bengal

The most unwanted and unnecessary control of the West Bengal government has triggered off in the potatoes being magically missing from the markets. Perhaps this is a lifetime experience for the residents of Bengal, which they would definitely not cherish, that not even a single potato seller was present in an otherwise vibrant market running in full swing in prime time slots. Though we must not question about the intention of the Government, but the wrong implementation of a policy apparently bearing a good objective has had a turbulent reaction in potato selling and buying. The potato sellers have been continuously exhibiting irk at the price ceiling set by the Government, which unfortunately did never bother to pay any heed. In addition to the malpractices of the small businessmen, certain political problems have been equally responsible for such a chaotic condition related to potatoes. It is seemingly impossible to bring about any long term change in the tottering economic condition without a solid strategy. The gimmick-driven politicians always tend to adopt short term solutions without testing the prevailing environment in actual markets. The government has allowed an apparently small problem to swell out of proportion due to inaccurate steps towards taking an upper hand in controlling the vegetable market price. Any logical brain would accept that the vegetable sellers will fail to sell potatoes at a rate of Rs. 13 per kg, when they buy it from the resellers at Rs. 11 per Kg. The cost of procurement has suddenly flared up due to an increase in the cost of transportation and the evident step of elimination of rotten potatoes before selling it to their end consumers. The Government might have taken its decision on basis of benefiting the commoners from such price hikes during the passing festive season, but it could not cast any long term impact. The potatoes have simply evaporated from the market immediately after the festive season due to a slack in the stringent vigilance policies, which had been implemented by the Government. When Mamata Banerjee’s eventful stint on the West Bengal firmament loudly speaks of gimmicks, what else could we expect? Perhaps the West Bengal State government can take a lesson from its counterpart at the center that it is better to set the market free from their grip. The Central Government has taken the right decision of slowly but inevitably releasing the control on Petrol and Diesel pricing. It is indeed true that people below the poverty level will face an immense problem...

The stunning steps towards price control have resulted scarcity of potato

The West Bengal Government has taken stringent measures to control the cost of potato in the market; as a result it has caused a scarcity. It has been observed in most of the markets in Kolkata and suburbs that adequate potatoes are unavailable, which has raised eyebrows of the customers. As everyone knows potatoes are the inevitable ingredients for most of the Bengali dishes and such a scarcity has certainly annoyed the common citizens. It is reported that the Government has also taken action against dispatch of potatoes from the state. Such radical steps are always welcome until it creates such a disharmony in the market, which should be also tackled by the Government authorities with...