KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee's much hyped sabji mandis and sufal markets are running much behind deadline and it was decided during a review meeting on Tuesday that the chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee and additional chief secretary (agriculture) Sanjeeb Chopra will oversee so that all the 186 sabji mandis turn operational soon.
Agriculture minister Purnendu Basu, Agriculture (marketing) minister Tapan Dasgupta, Co-operative minister Arup Ray and micro,small and medium enterprises minister Swapan Debnath were all present in the meeting.
It was found that though 186 sabji mandis were planned each on a five acre plot and for which the total budget allocated was Rs 1200 crore, but so far hardly half of the mandis have turned functional. Till now 176 mandis have been completed.
The state government has plans to store paddy in the mandis, but officials said that the markets are often far away from the paddy fields.
Moreover, there are complaints that some touts and criminals are operating in some areas for which the mandis cannot be properly functional. So, the DMs and SPs had been instructed to keep tab so that there is no instance of extortion from the farmers.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/mamata-banerjees-sabji-mandis-running-behind-schedule/articleshow/58704736.cms