“Price hike is skyrocketing in the country and people are struggling. The central government has no planning at all. It is your (the Centre’s) work to chalk out strategies to reduce price hike and solve the related issues. If they want, I can provide my suggestions. It is a burning issue in the country. Everything has become pricy,”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee [File:Photo]
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a meeting to take stock of the ongoing rise in the price of essential commodities following skyrocketing hike of petrol-diesel prices at Nabanna state secretariat today.
The task force, which comprises officials from police, enforcement directorate, agriculture and horticultural departments, traders, vendors and retailers, monitors the rising prices of vegetables and foodgrains. Prices of vegetables and foodgrains have been on the upward curve since the last one week in most city markets.
Even cooking oil is burning a hole in the pockets with a litre of mustard oil costing Rs 195-210, up from Rs 165- 180 a few weeks back. “Vegetables, which should ideally be priced at Rs 25-30 a kg, are selling at Rs 40-50 per kg due to the non-stop rise in fuel prices. Our task force meetings have not been held since the onset of Covid pandemic, two years back. The last meeting was held in December 2019,” said Mr Rabindranath Koley, a member of the government’s task force.
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On Monday, Miss Banerjee had slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government for fuel price hike and said that “in the last 11 days, fuel prices have increased 13 times,” pointing to fuel price hike, LPG price hike and inflation. “Price hike is skyrocketing in the country and people are struggling. The central government has no planning at all. It is your (the Centre’s) work to chalk out strategies to reduce price hike and solve the related issues. If they want, I can provide my suggestions. It is a burning issue in the country. Everything has become pricy,” she had said.
Meanwhile, the state cabinet today reportedly approved the appointment of around 4,5000 women constables in Kolkata Police, West Bengal Police and various police commissionerates.
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