Banerjee forms 11-member task force to check price rise in West Bengal

Kolkata, July 3 (ANI): West bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has set up an 11-member task force to monitor and rein in soaring prices in the state.

The task force, headed by state Agriculture Secretary Subrata Biswas, includes five other government representatives and five members from the trading community.

Kolkata Police officers, officials of the enforcement directorate and the agriculture and marketing and horticulture departments will meet community representatives every morning to discuss price trends and take action accordingly.

Banerjee has also hinted at introducing a law to rein in runaway vegetable prices because the existing laws - the Essential Commodities Act and the Anti-Profiteering Act - do not cover vegetables.

The task force has been instructed to conduct a recce of all markets every morning.

The state government has also decided to import 200 tonnes of green chillies from Katihar, which will be sold in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation's 28 regulatory markets and those in the districts.

Instructions have also been passed to conduct regular raids and pin-point middlemen who are jacking up the prices.

Banerjee has also ruled out the possibility of having an all-party meeting on the price rise issue, saying that 35 years of Left rule have ruined the state economically. (ANI)