Bengal Potato Traders Remain Firm on Indefinite Strike After Meeting with Minister Fails to Yield Results
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Kolkata, Dec 2 (NationPress) Potato traders in West Bengal have chosen to maintain their position regarding an indefinite strike commencing from Monday night, after a meeting earlier today with state Agriculture Minister Becharam Manna did not alleviate their issues.
The West Bengal Progressive Potato Traders’ Association, which is spearheading the strike, has resolved to continue their planned protest, as the minister did not provide any commitments on when the state government would ease the restrictions on exporting the vegetable to other states.
As of the time this report was compiled, there had been no sign from the state government regarding an impending lift of these restrictions.
Earlier today, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made it clear during an Assembly session that her administration would not permit the export of potatoes and onions to other states until the internal demand is satisfied.
Following the traders' decision to persist with their strike, there are concerns that the price of this essential vegetable in West Bengal could continue to escalate in the upcoming days.
Currently, the prices of two popular potato varieties, 'Jyoti' and 'Chandramukhi', are significantly high in retail markets, ranging between Rs 35 and Rs 42 per kg.
This marks the second occasion in just over three months that potato traders in the state, under the banner of the Progressive Potato Traders’ Association, have initiated a strike.
They previously staged a strike in August.
An official from the association noted that approximately 6.5 lakh metric tonnes of potatoes are currently stored in cold storage facilities within the state, which far exceeds the internal requirement of 3 lakh metric tonnes for December.
Therefore, he argued that maintaining the export ban on potatoes to other states is entirely unreasonable.
