Bhubaneswar: As the State continues to reel under potato crisis, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday made a phone call to his Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and requested her to normalise potato supply to the State.
Following the meeting between the two chief ministers, supply of potato to Odisha was streamlined. However, after some days, the situation returned to crisis. Therefore, the Chief Minister urged Mamata to intervene in the matter and resolve the problem, it said. Mamata has assured him of appropriate steps to resolve the issue.
Shri Majhi dialed Mamata after West Bengal police installed CCTV cameras on the border village to check unauthorized transportation of potato to Odisha.
Meanwhile, in an alternative plan to provide potatoes to the consumers at a reasonable price, the State government has started selling potatoes at Rs 100 for 3 kg in retail shops across the state under the public distribution system (PDS). However, due to lack of adequate supply, the potato made available in government retail shops is not able to meet demand of the public, sources said.
Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister K C Patra on Sunday said potatoes have been sent to different places in the state through NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd). The government retail shops have started selling the kitchen essential at a price of Rs 100 per 3 kg, Patra said.
“After this move by the government, the traders have also started releasing potatoes to the market. I am hopeful that traders will also start selling the tuber at a reasonable price,” the Minister told reporters.
Shri Patra said that potatoes will be directly brought from Uttar Pradesh. “I have already spoken to the Railways minister in this regard. Now, Odisha can get sufficient potato for its consumption,” he said.