Ganjam BJP protests potato price rise

Protesting the rise in potato price, the BJP Ganjam district unit staged a demonstration here on Sunday and burnt effigies of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Food Supplies Minister Sanjay Das Burma.

Earlier, the BJP activists took out a procession from the Gandhinagar Chhak to the Old Bus Stand raising various anti-Government slogans and holding placards. The party leaders said the State Government has completely failed to control the price of tuber. Only two lakh tonne potatoes are produced in the State against the demand of 10 lakh metric tonne per year. The tuber is now sold at a skyrocketed price of `18 per kg. Though the State Government had planned to set up 112 new cold storages, no progress has been made so far, said party State secretary Bibhuti Jena.

“Though the State Government has launched the Potato Mission, it has failed due to faulty policy and carelessness of the State Government and lack of coordination among various departments,” said party district president Kanhu Charan Pati.