The heat of shortage of potatoes and resultant increase in price reached the State Cabinet on Tuesday as the issue was discussed at length by the council of ministers and Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday.
Though the ministers differed on the ways to tackle the situation, the Government decided that the problems would be resolved “amicably” by holding talks with the West Bengal Government, which has stopped the supply of potatoes leaving the State in acute shortage.
It was decided that the State will not take any stern action like stopping supply of vegetables, coal and electricity to West Bengal and will resolve the issue by holding talks. The Chief Minister has ordered to send a delegation to Bengal to talk over the matter. It is expected that the delegates will move to Bengal on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Soren has also written a letter to Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee requesting her to take back the decision of stopping the supply of potatoes to other states, including Jharkhand. In his letter he has shown his concern over the soaring price of potatoes and has urged his Bengal counterpart to consider his request as soon as possible as the State residents especially Below Poverty line (BPl) families are affected the most out of it.
State Agriculture Minister Yogendra Sao also said after the cabinet meeting that the matter would be better resolved “amicably” by holding talks with the West Bengal Government. “Stopping supplies or retaliating will not be a solution. We want to solve the issue peacefully. The CM has already instructed to send a delegation to WB to hold talks,” Sao said.
However, some of the ministers did not seem to be in a mood to favour a peaceful resolution of the matter. They wanted a tit for tat policy. Water Resources Minister Annapurna Devi said, “We are trying our best to solve the matter but if the Bengal Chief Minister sticks to her decision then we will also answer in her language by stopping supply of other vegetables, coal and electricity. Now the ball is in her (Mamta) court and let’s sees what she decides. ”
However, shortage of potatoes has forced the wholesalers to purchase the potatoes from Uttar Pradesh (UP) as production in the State is not enough to meet the demand.
Ajay Kumar, a wholesaler who deals in potatoes at Pandara Bazar said, “We are selling potatoes in loss as half of the stock gets destroyed during transportation. Moreover, the supply of potatoes has reduced from 20 to four trucks. The scenario is pathetic but we are hopeful that the problem will be
solved soon.”
Usually 400 tonnes of potatoes reach Ranchi from Kolkata everyday but after the shortfall in supply only 60-80 tonnes of potatoes are reaching Ranchi markets that too at a very high cost and through illegal means.
Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) President Bikash Kumar Singh has also written letter to the WB Chief Minister over the matter.