Guwahati, Oct. 28: In typical knee-jerk reaction to rise in prices of potatoes and onions in Assam markets, the state food and civil supplies department has decided to supply the two commodities at fixed prices through fair price shops.

The department, which is often criticised for failing to control prices, has, however, remained short of making a long-term difference because of its lack of legal teeth and insufficient manpower. A senior official of the department said they were unable to force the traders to lower prices of potato and onion as the two items are not included as essential commodities and could not act tough against traders even if they were resorting to unfair means.

“We can merely request the potato and onion traders to look into the customers’ interests. But we can’t force them to lower prices, as we are not legally mandated to do so. We can register cases against those resorting to unfair means in the supply and trade of essential commodities and forward the cases to courts but we can’t do so in case of potato and onion,” the official here told The Telegraph.

The department is empowered to allot and distribute items under the public distribution system (PDS) and enforce rules relating to trading of essential commodities like LPG and kerosene. Violation of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, may invite legal action, including imprisonment ranging between three months and seven years and fine, depending upon the offences.

Assam and for that matter markets in the Northeast depend on Nasik and Bangalore for onion supply and Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Punjab for potato. Traders here control the prices of most of the commodities, including potato and onion as big wholesalers are based here. But they often increase prices of the two commodities citing problem in transportation.

The consumer rights organisations, too, complain of illegal syndicates being run by a section of traders who decide prices of the two commodities according to their will. The state government often issues strict instructions for action against the unfair means adopted by traders. The department, however, is unable to do so because of lack of legal teeth. “If we force a trader to sell onion and potato at a fixed price, the trader may drag us to court as we do not have legal power. We are also running short of manpower, particularly ground personnel like inspectors,” the official said.

“Unless potatoes and onions are included in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, we can do very little to control prices. As of now, we are only supplying the two commodities at lower prices through fair price shops as prices of potato and onion have again gone up,” the official said.

Ajoy Hazarika, chief co-ordinator of Consumer Legal Protection Forum, an NGO here, demanded that the state government should develop a mechanism to control prices of potatoes, onions and other vegetables. “Without a proper mechanism to control prices, traders here are increasing vegetable prices according to their will and the supply department is only making knee-jerk reactions,” Hazarika said.