The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is trying to put a leash on prices of essentials in its community markets but shopkeepers have found a way to wriggle free.
Last week, on June 19, CB Market, the most popular of the NKDA’s 10 community markets, had an electronic display board installed inside, which carried a fair price list of fruits and vegetables.
“We are getting feedback that prices of meat and vegetables in New Tdevdanown are on the higher side compared to other markets. The department of agricultural marketing publishes a daily rate chart that is followed by its outlet channel, Sufal Bangla. We are benchmarking these rates and asking shopkeepers in our markets to follow these prices. We will allow may be a five per cent deviation. Our officials are visiting the markets and interacting with customers to check the rate at which sales are happening,” said an NKDA official.
A digital board carrying the day’s price list approved by the government installed inside the market for customer benefit
The problem, he pointed out, was that on the days of the raid the market rates were being maintained but not otherwise. “We are undertaking the visit on a random day of the week and enforcing these rates. But on other days, we are learning, unregulated prices are being quoted again. So this system is not being effective,” he admitted.
The NKDA, therefore, has decided to empower citizens by informing them of the government-approved rates on a daily basis. “We are installing a smart screen since, with the rates changing on a daily basis, a conventional chart will not help,” he said.
The display screen shows both the procurement price and the consumer price for 108 items, ranging from apples to turmeric. “This way, they will refuse to pay higher prices even if the shopkeepers so demand.’
A toll-free number, 1800-103-7652, is also mentioned below for customers to call and report major deviations. If the experiment is a success, the NKDA plans to put up the electronic board in other markets with significant footfall.
But a visit to CB Market on Tuesday evening revealed a different picture. While the board has been strategically placed diagonally opposite the vegetable stalls, all the buyers The Telegraph Salt Lake spoke to are unaware of its utility and no one was stopping to check it out. When the shopkeepers were asked about the rates on the chart, they claimed that those were Sufal Bangla rates, which were available only at the Sufal Bangla counter outside. “It has nothing to do with us,” said a shopkeeper, as
The Telegraph Salt Lake drew his attention to the board, posing as a customer.
A fishmonger, on the outer wall of whose stall the screen has been installed, was candid. “It is not possible for us to match the government rates as the Sufal Bangla sellers get a subsidy from the government on the losses they make, which we will not if we started selling at those prices,” he explained.