From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Even as the people of the state are reeling under spiraling prices of essentials, all sorts of vegetables, fishes and broiler chickens etc. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has stated the government just is not equipped with an Act that enables it to dictate prices of the commodities in the market.
Gogoi said that the rising trend in prices of the essentials was a countrywide trend now and the State government was taking all the steps to ensure that there was no excess rates in the state. He claimed that already prices of the food items had been showing a downward trend barring the prices of onions and vegetables which remain at a high price level around this time of the year.
Gogoi said that his government was planning to explore the option of market intervention involving the producers’ organisations to ensure competitive prices of vegetables neutralizing the middlemen in the trade. He said rising prices were welcome provided the actual farmers get higher prices for their produce. He said that the government had already provided some mini vans to producers’ organisations to help producers bring their produce to the market by themselves without depending on middlemen so that they get good price for the produce and people also can buy their items in reasonable prices.