About a week ago, the WB government put a price ceiling of Rs 13 per kg on the popular Jyoti potato, and instructed the police to lodge FIRs against traders who defied the order

Cheap potato has disappeared from markets in Kolkata, thanks to a diktat from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that traders say is thoughtless and arbitrary and, going by the effects it has produced, counterproductive as well.

About a week ago, the government put a price ceiling of Rs 13 per kg on the popular Jyoti potato, and instructed the police to lodge FIRs against traders who defied the order. Three people have been arrested so far.

The order has driven the normally abundant Jyoti potato virtually out of currency. Traders say the economics just don't work out. "Those who make laws do not know the reality on the ground. The authorities have overlooked various problems that we businessmen face," a senior member of Park Circus Market Byabsayee Samity said, referring to poor storage infrastructure and resultant wastage that raises costs.

Vegetable seller Krishna Shaw at the Park Circus Market said, "The potatoes supplied by the government can't keep up with the demand. Also, a 50-kg bag which is sold to retailers for Rs 550 contains at least four kg of rotten potatoes, which takes the buying price per kg to nearly Rs 12. Then, many potatoes are small in size, for which customers are unwilling to pay Rs 13, raising our costs further. How are we expected to sell at Rs 13 then?"

Shaw said that margins were virtually non-existent, and unless the government relented, vendors were likely to simply stop selling potato.

Some vendors at North Kolkata's Manicktala market have been trying to find ways around the government's price ceiling. "We are selling at the stipulated price, but we are not giving any plastic carry bags.

Agriculture Marketing Minister Arup Ray admitted there was a scarcity, but said it was "man-made" and promised the problem would be solved in the next two days.

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