State sets deadline for 35 closed shops at Baidyabati Krishibazar

The state agriculture marketing minister, Tapan Dasgupta has set a deadline for occupants of 35 shops in Krishibazar at Baidyabati, Hooghly when he found them closed for years.

On Monday, Dasgupta went to the Krishibazar that came up on a plot of 38 acres and houses 49 shops, storerooms of huge capacity, an under construction multipurpose cold storage, Netaji Bose Training Institute where youth from farmers’ family get training on the marketing of agriculture product. During the visit, he was shocked to find that 35 shops were closed and occupants of those shops had no interest in using them for any business.

It may be mentioned that the state government had taken an initiative to set up Krishibazars in districts throughout the state. The steps were taken to help farmers for proper marketing of their products.

With the setting up of the Krishibazars, farmers can come to the place and sell their yield directly in an open market where common people visit to buy their required items. Thus, shops were given to the people from the local area which had shown interest in marketing products of the farmers from the same area.

But with the shops remaining closed, both the common people as well as the farmers are the sufferers. The reason being another person can do business at the same place, if the actual occupants do not want to run any business.

Thus, Dasgupta on Monday gave a clear message stating that stringent action will be taken against the occupant if they do not open the shops within the next 15 days.

If someone comes forward and says that he cannot run the shop, then it would be handed over to someone else. It may be recalled that Dasgupta had given a surprise visit to different potato producing areas in the state and found poisonous soil was being sprayed over potato.

Subsequently, he had taken immediate steps to check the menace and initiated an awareness campaign of spraying such soil on potatoes.