Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Sunday said there was no shortage of onion and potato in the district and it further claimed that allegations of hoarding of the commodities by city traders were false and unfounded. The industry body said the administration and people should not pay attention to such ‘rumours’.
Concerned about the rising prices and allegations of hoarding of essential commodities, the Chamber has initiated several programmes. “We have apprised the district administration of the negative impact of any enforcement attitude and assured them of all cooperation. A series of meetings are being held by traders in this regard. As a part of this attempt, the SCCI went to the Agricultural Product and found there was no shortage of onions and potatoes in the city. It is Marketing Committee’s market yard at Parsudih,” said president of the Chamber Suresh Sonthalia.
Sonthalia reiterated that there were negative publicities on a regular basis. There is a huge difference of retail and wholesale prices. As an immediate solution, it was decided to open “Suvidha Centres” by wholesale merchants to offer essential items at wholesale prices. That any effort to put a bar on stocks will have a negative impact on prices, as supplies will be held back. Prices have gone up due to seasonal factors and huge rise in the cost of transportation, rather than being the result of any trading manipulation. Wholesale prices will be made available to the district administration and to the people through the media on a regular basis, so that they can bargain for themselves,” he said. Sonthalia said today’s wholesale price of onion is Rs 22 to Rs 24 per kilogram while for potato the price is Rs 13.50 to Rs 16 per kilogram.