Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday spoke to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and requested her to improve the supply of potatoes, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement. During the telephonic conversation, Majhi said that after his meeting in New Delhi, the supply of potatoes to Odisha had improved, but now the situation has worsened again. Chief Minister Majhi urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to intervene in the matter and resolve the problem, the CMO said in the statement.
According to the statement, Banerjee has assured Majhi of taking appropriate steps to resolve the issue. The Odisha chief minister called Banerjee after the West Bengal police installed CCTVs in border villages to check unauthorised transportation of potatoes into Odisha. The Odisha government has started selling potatoes at the rate of Rs 100 for three kilograms at retail shops across the state under the Public Distribution System (PDS). State Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister K C Patra said on Sunday that potatoes have been dispatched to various places in the state through NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd).
Patra said government retail shops have started selling potatoes, a kitchen essential, at the rate of Rs 100 for three kilograms. “After the government’s move, traders have also started bringing potatoes to the market. I hope traders will also start selling potatoes at a reasonable price,” the minister told reporters here. A severe potato crisis has emerged in Odisha after neighbouring West Bengal stopped supply of potatoes and traders in the state refused to buy potatoes from Uttar Pradesh. Patra said potatoes would be procured directly from Uttar Pradesh.
He said, “I have spoken to the Railway Minister in this regard. Now Odisha will be able to get enough potatoes for its consumption…” Meanwhile, Odisha’s Chief Civil Supply Officer Sanjeev Kumar Sahu said that two trucks of potatoes have been distributed among more than 50 PDS dealers on Saturday and more trucks full of potatoes are expected to arrive on Sunday. He said that any person can go to a PDS shop and buy three kilograms of potatoes for Rs 100.
