Guwahati Wholesalers and vendors hike prices on their own

Fixed vegetable rates go for a toss!

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The vegetable prices fixed by the Kamrup (M) District Administration, the State Agricultural Marketing Board and the Directorate of Horticulture & Food Processing for Guwahati on Sunday went for a toss on the ground on Monday.

This has glaringly exposed the failure on the part of the administration in making vegetable vendors sell vegetables at the rates fixed. At many places in the city vendors opted not to sell vegetables on the ground that they had to procure vegetables at prices higher than the ones fixed by the administration.

Even as vegetable shops, roadside vending and markets were not allowed to sell vegetables in Guwahati on Monday, a number of hawkers were allowed to sell such items door-to-door. Strangely enough, in most of the areas in Guwahati the vegetable prices fixed by the administration on Sunday were simply ignored by the hawkers who sold the commodities at prices fixed by them.

While cabbage (badakobi) was sold at prices ranging from Rs 40-55 per kg against the fixed price of Rs 30, ridge gourd (jika) was sold at Rs 50-60 per kg against the fixed price of Rs 35, tomato was sold at Rs 60-80 per kg against the fixed price of Rs 50, kunduli (potol) was sold at Rs 80 per kg against the fixed rate of Rs 32, brinjal (bengena) was sold at Rs 60 per kg against the fixed rate of Rs 40, long bean (lesera) was sold at Rs 50 per kg against the fixed rate of Rs 40, lady's finger was sold at Rs 40-50 per kg against the fixed rate of Rs 40, spine gourd (mitha kerala) was sold at Rs 60-70 per kg against the fixed rate of Rs 46, lemon at Rs 5 per piece against the fixed rate of Rs 3 per piece, etc. The prices of all other vegetables have also been hiked by the vegetable vendors on their own.

When asked some of the vendors said that they were not aware of the prices fixed by the administration. "Since we've procured all these vegetables at rates higher than the rates fixed by the administration, we can't sell the commodities at the rates fixed by the administration. We can't incur loss," one of the vendors said.

It seems that the price list fixed by the administration might not be circulated properly among vegetable wholesalers and vendors or the wholesalers or vendors might have ignored the fixed prices. Anyway, this is yet another glaring failure on the part of the administration. Yet again, the lockdown-stricken people of Guwahati have been made to pay through their nose to buy vegetables.

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