The Paschimbanga Agri Marketing Corporation Limited on Monday opened stalls from where vegetables would be sold and an integrated service of mobile vans which would roam around the city to supply vegetables bought from farmers to these stalls.
From Calcutta, chief minister Mamata Banerjee virtually inaugurated 25 stalls for different locations of the city. Aroop Biswas, the state power minister, along with mayor Gautam Deb and some others, flagged off a fleet of eight vehicles at a function held here.
Sufal Bangla vehicles parked at Kishanmandi, Salbarari, on the outskirts of Siliguri
“Our objective is to sell quality vegetables to people through these government-run outlets, and simultaneously ensure farmers get proper price of their produce through us,” Biswas said at the event.
The initiative, sources said, has been taken under the Sufal Bangla scheme floated by the state government.
“We want to develop an integrated mechanism in lieu of which vegetables will reach each of these stalls from the farmers in a regular manner,” said an official of the department.
He said that to ensure a regular supply of veggies to these stalls, they joined hands with four farmers’ producers’ companies (FPCs) in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.
“These FPCs will monitor the entire process. They have auction centres, sheds and stockyards. They will buy the produce from farmers and supply those to the stalls,” he added.
Items available at the stalls would include orange, kiwi, carrot, ginger, cardamom, cauliflower, cabbage and some other vegetables and fruits, as well as spices.
The department is also planning to bring farmers of the hills under this supply chain. Every day, hundreds of farmers who grow squash, ginger, leafy veggies, and other items in hills, descend to Siliguri to sell their produce.
For the supply to Sufal Bangla stalls, the department has decided to use the “krishak bazaar” (farmers’ market) set up on a five-acre plot at Salbari.
Located around 5km from Siliguri off NH55 on way to Sukna, the market was set up in 2014. It has, however, remained closed so far.
“We are in contact with farmers from the hills. They can come and sell their products to us. It will help us get fresh vegetables from the hills. They, too, will get proper prices,” the official added.
‘Drug peddler’
Bagdogra police station and the special operation group of Siliguri Metropolitan Police acted on a tip-off to arrest an alleged drug peddler, Md Tamanna, from the outskirts of Siliguri on Monday with 300gm of brown sugar worth around Rs 50 lakh.