STATE TIMES NEWS
RAMBAN: Soaring prices of vegetables and fruits have begun to hit the pocket of common man across district Ramban especially during the month of Ramadan.
A visit to vegetable and fruit market shows that the rates of vegetables have witnessed a sharp rise and is likely to increase in coming days.
In absence of any mechanism to keep check on the prices and failure of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) department to effectively deal with rates fixed illegally by retailers without any rate list; people are at mercy of vendors, who charge at will. Further vegetable and fruit prices vary from one market to another, which is leading to verbal duel.
Having a glance over the current prices of the vegetables in the district, the price of tomato a regular item in our lunch and dinner has increased Rs 70 per kilograms whereas potato is Rs 20 to 25 per kg, ladyfinger which is mostly liked by the people has increased from Rs 60 per kg, lemon that refreshes everyone have got up from Rs 80 per kg, whereas the price of beans, cucumber, capsicum and Bitter gourd also reached upto Rs 60.
Whereas the rates of fruits also shows the heavy increase which include watermelon is of Rs 20 per kilogram and mangoes Rs 40 per Kg besides many other fruits getting out of reach from the common people. Furthermore, the price of cheese is Rs 200 per Kilogram whereas Rs 220 for chicken.
Kuldeep Kumar a vegetable seller said that my daily sale has tremendously decreased, people prefer buying lesser quantity of vegetables, than they used to buy earlier or shifting to commodities having low rates.
Similar is the condition of other commodities that a common man has to think many times before buying.
Anuradha Sharma a housewife, said that the price that the vegetable sellers charge from a common man is very expensive, people has to alter the items in their lunch and dinner.
Besides the rising of the rates in the vegetables and fruits, they are made artificially healthy by injecting chemicals to gain maximum output at the cost of health of people.
This unhealthy way of life is damaging the immune system of the people. Due to this many cases have been registered as a result of the intake of chemically injected vegetables.
Pardeep Singh, a local said that there is very little impact on the budget of the rich but the middle class is affected the most. We have to alter the items in our food thali day by day.
He requested the government to control the price rise adding that even the fruits have vanished from our diet, now the health of our families is only in the hands of the government which only can regulate the price rise.
When contacted Tehsildar Ramban, Gurpreet Singh said time to time the administration has conduct market inspection of keep a check on the rates of eatables besides directed the retailers to display the rate list.
He further said that administration will take strict action against the defaulters who make the monopoly by charging extra rates from the consumers for direly required palatables.