Bhubaneswar, July 27: Chief Minister Mohan Majhi Saturday met his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi and urged her to resolve the potato supply issue so that people of Odisha will get the tuber adequately at the right prices.

Majhi and Banerjee were in the national capital to attend the NITI Aayog meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, Food and Supplies Minister Niyananda Gond said trucks loaded with potatoes are on their way from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to Odisha and the potato issue will be resolved in two days.

Due to the scarcity in potato supply, people of the State have been buying the tuber at more than Rs 50 kg for the last two days.
While the State Government has made vigorous efforts to solve the potato problem, a question is being asked why does this problem persist in Odisha? Why are people facing a dearth of potato supply every year and why is West Bengal threatening Odisha in potato case?

Answers to these questions have brought the inefficiency of the last BJD government to the fore.

The CAG report has revealed the failure of the Naveen government in the potato mission. Rs 50 crore was sanctioned for the potato mission in 2015-16, but only Rs 24.05 crore was spent.

Similarly, in 2016-17, Rs 60 crore was allocated in the budget, but only Rs 15 crore was given to the Directorate of Agriculture. Out of which only Rs 2.60 crore was spent. In 2017-18, a budget of Rs 20 crore was allocated, but not even a single rupee could be spent.

Due to the lack of cold storage during harvest, Odia farmers sell potatoes at a lower price and later buy them at a higher price.

During the 24 years of the BJ government, more than 100 cold storages have become inactive.The Naveen government did not take any steps to open new cold storage or develop the old ones. These are the reasons people are suffering.

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