Saha said the country does not have any law to regulate consumer markets and the state government cannot interfere unless it receives a specific complaint against hoarding or black marketing. “For years, we have been demanding a strong public distribution system to control food inflation and amendment of the essential commodities act to regulate the market. But the Centre only wants to de-regulate the market,” he said.
However, Congress MLA Ratan Lal Nath said Tripura’s standard of living and per capita income is lower than those of Delhi. Hence, comparisons between Agartala and Delhi are irrelevant.
“Fresh vegetables are procured by dealers from marginal farmers at minimum price as the state government does not have any rules to safeguard the farmers. The same produce is sold in Agartala and other parts of the state at thrice the price,” Nath alleged.
He said if the government becomes vigilant, at least prices of locally produced goods and packaged items could be controlled. Nath also suggested that the government could fix the minimum price of fresh vegetables, fish and other food items on a weekly basis for farmers and an MRP for consumers to prevent food inflation. Onions and potatoes could be sold at government-run consumer federation counters at minimum profit to control price hike in the retail market, he said. The Left Front government has surrendered the market to a section of dealers, he added.
Source: Nagaland Post
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