Ration shops to sell potato at `13/kg

SNS, Siliguri, 6 November 2013: The Siliguri administration has decided to distribute potatoes through the Public Distribution System (PDS). 

People would get potatoes from the ration shops in the Siliguri sub-division at Rs 13 per kg. 

“In order to make the potatoes available at the government price to the people of the sub-division, the administration has decided to distribute the vegetable item from the ration shops. The potatoes would be available at Rs 13 per kg from the ration shops. Each family would get one kg of potato. This will continue still we have the stocks of the potatoes," said the Siliguri sub-divisional officer (SDO), Dr Deepap Priya P. 

The administration procured the potatoes from the Jalpaiguri cold storage. 

“The administration has procured the potatoes from the Jalpaiguri cold storage at Rs 11 per kg. The administration received 80 bags of potatoes from the cold storage. This apart, the administration also recovered 265 bags from a lorry in Kharibari last night,” she added. 

Each ration shop in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) would receive four bags of potatoes, each bag weighing 50 kg. 

“Each shop in the SMC area would get four bags of potatoes. But each shop in four blocks under the sub-division would get one bag of potatoes," the officer said. 

However, the distribution did not take place today. “The potato distribution will be started from tomorrow," said the Darjeeling district controller of food and supply, Mr Baidyanath Sarkar. 

The Darjeeling district ration dealers’ association secretary, Mr Dhiren Sinha, said some ration shops had received the potato bags this evening . 

“However, all the ration shops did not get the required potatoes to distribute. We are hopeful that the rest would be reached to the ration shops within tomorrow morning and we would start distribution then," Mr Sinha said. 

He said there are 92 ration shops in the four blocks of the sub-division and there 54 shops in the SMC area. 

Vegetable prices skyrocket due to continuing festivities 

SNS, Siliguri, 6 November The prices of some vegetables were on the rise in Siliguri because of religious occasions. Vegetable vendors here today sold a piece of pumpkin at Rs 40 when devotees who would worship Sun God on 9 November, were in search of the item. Devotees of the Sun God must eat pumpkin today to maintain the ritual for Chhat Puja. 

Notably, the vegetable vendors here used to sell a pumpkin between Rs 10 to 20 on the basis of its size in normal days. A vegetable vendor said the rate of pumpkin was high since Monday following demands for that item ahead of Chhat Puja. The price of the fruit may go down from tomorrow. Another vendor said: “Both the growers and traders increase the rate of such vegetable items and fruits following religious ceremony and festivities.” 

Citing an example, he said: “The rate of cucumber was Rs 80 per kg on the day of Laxmi Puja.” According to wholesale and commission agents in Siliguri Regulated Market (SRM), the vegetable market was down due to a lack of supply green vegetable items during festivities as a result of natural calamities since the third week of October. 

The present production of vegetables is lower than normal and growers and middlemen, to avoid heavy transportation costs, are selling those items in local haats. The senior executive member of the SRM’s wholesalers’ body, Mr Tapan Kumar Saha, said: “Our business is down at present owing to inadequate supply of vegetables in the regulated market. We are in no position to import and export vegetables due to the state government's present order.” 

“The state has imposed restriction on export of vegetable to other states. We are in no position to send vegetable items in Sikkim and neighbouring country Bhutan due to the state government’s order,” he said.