Bhubaneswar, July 9: The situation in the vegetable markets in many parts of the state wears a gloomy look as vendors desperately wait for consumers to turn up and buy their stock. But unfortunately, the consumers are not in a position to help as they are also hit hard by the soaring vegetable prices. Be it tomatoes, green chillies or lemon, the prices of almost every vegetable have skyrocketed in the past one week.
The bad weather, as a result of rainy season, is being attributed for the price hike in the food market. Also, the vehicles carrying vegetables from neighbouring states are getting stranded midway on account of the onset of monsoon. The low yield of crop this year is one of the major reasons for rise in price of commodities including vegetables.
Buyers come to ask the rates and take a turn, some purchase low-priced vegetables and some just don’t as if it is the vendors who are deciding the prices, said a trader. It is like we are being punished because of the bad yield this year. I request all the buyers to purchase from us, after all this is our means of sustenance, she added.
Dalma, being the staple diet for most of the government schools in the state, is being provided to the students without vegetables. This, in turn, has peeved the students. They complain they are intentionally not given vegetables.
Denying the students’ claim, a teacher from the school said, “We are providing all the raw vegetables, just the quantity per serving has reduced a little bit owing to the rise in prices”
Speaking on the issue, a member of a SHG group said, “The funds allocated for everyday meals are not sufficient now when the prices of vegetables are skyrocketing. We cannot quit providing food to the students who are dependent on the meals hence we have already taken groceries and vegetables in credit. We expect the kind attention of the government towards this major issue.”
The SHG women who work for an Aahar Kendra said, “It has become difficult for us to make a profit from the funds allotted, not that we are not putting vegetables in dalma. We are providing the best we can, but serving dalma and rice at Rs 5 is pretty difficult now”.
“The prices of vegetables are sky high, first time in the last 4-5 years. Serving a vegetable thali is more expensive than plating a non vegetarian thali these days. The problem is that the government itself is unsure by when the prices will drop, hence we are indecisive of increasing our rates”, said an owner of a restaurant in the City.
Shalima Roy, who runs a cloud kitchen in Bhubaneswar, said, “Without getting any clue from the government about when the prices shall fall, it is becoming really difficult to manage the canteen with 100 student subscriptions.”
“The prices of meals are pre-decided and now if we put a hike in rates of meals, we will lose the subscribers who take food on a daily basis”, she added.
“Every year we observe a slight rise in vegetable prices around this time of the year because of changes in weather. With the import of vegetables from different states a balance is created in the market. Now that the imports are at a pause, the prices in the market are surging and it might stretch for one month”, says Gayadhar Swain, member of Vegetables Traders’ Association, Bhubaneswar.
“An improvement in the situation will be observed very soon as an attempt is being made to bring local vegetables back to the market”, added Swain
SMRUTI REKHA BARIK, OP