Odisha govt asks collectors to take action against hoarders

The Odisha government has instructed all district authorities to keep a close watch on stocking of onions and potatoes by unscrupulous traders and take stringent action against them to check the rising prices.

In letters to the district collectors, the Food and Consumer Welfare Department said, the price of onion continues to remain high at Rs 100 per kg and some unscrupulous traders may hoard the key kitchen staple to create artificial scarcity in the market, taking advantage of the situation.

The collectors were asked to carry out raids on business premises to track the wholesale and retail prices by verifying bills, vouchers and stock limits.

The department also suggested the district collectors to take help of market intelligence and civil supply field officers for conducting raids on a regular basis.

Mentioning that the Odisha Potato and Onion (Storage Control) Amendment Order, 2019 will now be strictly enforced, the letter said that henceforth, stock limit of the tuber and the bulb would be fixed for the traders.

According to the order, a wholesaler in Bhubaneswar can stock a maximum of 1,000 quintals of potato and 250 quintals of onion.

The caps for stocking potato and onion are 500 quintals and 250 quintals respectively for wholesalers in Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur and Sambalpur.

In other parts of the state, wholesalers can store a maximum of 300 quintals of potato and 150 quintals of onion.

The retail traders in Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur and Sambalpur can stock a maximum of 40 quintals of potato and 20 quintals of onion.