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Open Chandigarh apni mandis, demand locals
Vegetables are being sold at marked up prices, with tomatoes, which cost Rs 25 per kg when bought in bulk from wholesalers, being sold for Rs 50 per kg and onions (Rs 30 a kg) going for Rs50
People in the city want the local farmer markets or apni mandis with controlled prices to reopen, saying it’s a free-for-all by door to door vendors who are overcharging for fruits and vegetables. The Chandigarh Residents’ Association Welfare Federation (CRAWFED), too, has written to the UT administration asking that farmers be directly allowed to sell products to consumers.
The UT Market Committee has also stopped sharing a list of fixed rates for the day to be displayed by vendors registered with the municipal corporation (MC).
Confirming this, a market committee official who did not want to be named as he’s not authorised to speak to the media, said, “Vendors with rehris who don’t follow the rate list are doing well and others allotted space by the MC have stopped putting up their stalls, so a rate list is not being issued now.”
MC started fixing fruit and vegetable rates during the lockdown when Chandigarh Transport Union buses were brought into service to supply produce to all sectors. However, when markets opened and the bus services were discontinued vendors stopped displaying lists.
A round of the markets on Thursday revealed that most vegetables were being sold at marked up prices. Tomatoes, which cost Rs 25 per kg when bought in bulk from wholesalers, were being sold for Rs 50 per kg. Onions (Rs 30 per kg) were being sold for Rs 50 per kg and capsicum (Rs 20 per kg) were going for Rs 80 per kg.
On CRAWFED’s letter to the UT administration, Hitesh Puri, chairman of the welfare associations’ body, said, “Since the market committee is not issuing any rate list now, how will the authorities keep a check on how much the vendors are charging? Mandis should be opened, policemen should be stationed there to ensure that all Covid-19 safety standards are maintained.”
On overcharging by vendors, Puri said, “Residents should stop buying from the door to door vendors or simply not pay them what they ask for.”
Jatinder Singh, secretary of the Sector 40-B Residents’ Welfare Association, also added that in sectors 46 and 37, some of the vendors had collected to form a mini mandi with fairer prices. “While I recently bought peas for Rs 30 per kg from a vendor outside my house, the same were available for Rs 20 per kg here. The administration must allow mandis to open to keep a check vendors and vegetable prices.”
