kolkata: Concerned over the ongoing price rise of essential commodities, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a meeting at Nabanna on Thursday to take stock of the situation and formulate measures to bring down the price.
On Wednesday, after the 14th hike in 16 days, diesel was sold at Rs 99.83 per litre (up by 0.81 paise) and petrol at Rs 115. 12 per litre (up by 0.84 paise, in Kolkata.
The traders have attributed the hike in fuel prices as one of the prime contributor to the escalating costs.
The meeting of the task force, which comprises officials from police, enforcement directorate, agriculture and horticultural departments, traders, vendors and retailers, monitors the prices of vegetables and foodgrains. There has been no physical meeting of the task force since the onset of Covid in March 2020. The last meeting was held in December 2019.
"Vegetables, which should ideally be priced at Rs 25-30 a kg, are selling at over Rs 50 per kg due to the non-stop rise in fuel prices..," a senior member of the task force said. Cooking oil is burning a hole in the pocket with a litre of mustard oil costing Rs 195-210 while refined oil is also seeing a hike.
"Visits in markets for regulating the price have been affected during Covid. We will act as per directions of the Chief Minister," Rabindranath Koley, a member of the government's task force said.
Banerjee has recently slammed the BJP-led central government for the fuel price hike. "The common people are struggling because of the price hike. The central government has no planning at all. It is your (the Centre's) work to chalk out strategies to reduce price hikes and solve the related issues. If they want, I can provide my suggestions. It is a burning issue in the country. Everything has become costly," she had said.