Kolkata: The state government task force raided several markets to monitor the selling price of onions and warned that stern action will be taken against those who will be found selling the onions at exorbitant prices.
The state government set up a Task Force to keep the prices of essential commodities in retail markets in check.
A senior member of the Task Force said that the license may be cancelled if the vendors sell onions at a price that is beyond the permissible limit. The Task Force and Enforcement Branch raided the Kankurgachi VIP market and spoke to the sellers.
Onion prices touched Rs 100 a kilogram in several retail markets in Kolkata. While the minimum price of onions in the retail markets in Kolkata is Rs 80 a kilogram, in certain markets located in the posh localities it is being sold at Rs 100 a kilogram.
Sources said that the Task Force will raid Bagmari market at 11 am and Maniktala market at 12 pm on Saturday. Trinamool Congress MLA Asit Majumdar staged a token protest against the price rise of onion.
The members of the Task Force, apprehend that the prices might increase during the forthcoming festival season of Kali Puja, Diwali and Bhai Phota (Bhai Dooj), following which the prices might ease. The members have started taking precautionary measures to control the prices. Accompanied by the police, they have started visiting different retail markets, asking the sellers to maintain the price of onions within a reasonable range.
“The production of onions in West Bengal is limited and we have to depend in a major way for supply from Nasik in Maharashtra. The first problem is that the onion suppliers there are on strike. The Union government through cooperative societies is purchasing the onions directly from the farmers. The Union government is creating discrimination. While it is selling onions at Rs 30 a kilogram in Delhi, it is selling them at Rs 50 a kilogram in West Bengal,” said a member of the task force.