The activists of Odisha Chhatra Congress (students’ wing of Congress) on Sunday sold vegetables at a subsidised rate in front of the official residence of Odisha agriculture minister Ranendra Pratap Swain to protest against the soaring prices of vegetables and the government’s failure to control it.

They also raised slogans against the Odisha government and the Union government and held them responsible for the price rise of essential products.

Odisha Chhatra Congress president Yashir Nawaz said: “The common man has been hit by the price rise. He is struggling for survival. We are now facing such a situation as the state failed to come out with a policy on how to promote the agriculture sector. The state does not have adequate cold storage facilities. It’s because of the faulty policy of the state government that nearly 82 out of the 131 cold storages in the state have become defunct. Now the poor and middle class are paying the price for it.

Stating that both the Naveen Patnaik government and the Narendra Modi government are hand-in-glove, Yashir said: “The price of petroleum products is increasing almost every day. It has a direct impact on the vegetable market too. Because of the GST burden, the price of dal and edible oil has also been increased. No one is able to see the plight of the poor and middle class.”

Currently, vegetables are being sold for between Rs 60 and Rs 140 at various places in the state. Tomatoes are beyond the reach of the common man. “The budget of every household has now gone for a toss because of the price rise of vegetables. Not only vegetables, the retail price of ginger has increased from about Rs 140 per kg to Rs 300 in a fortnight, and brinjal from Rs 30 to Rs 80 per kg around the same time. Other vegetables have also seen a rise of 40 to 80 per cent over the past 15 days,” said another Congress leader Prakash Mishra.

The students’ Congress sold tomatoes at Rs 50 per kg and brinjal at Rs 30 per kg.

In order to maintain a law and order situation, the state government deployed a police force at the official residence of the agriculture minister.

The minister is yet to react to the issue.