West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee has claimed that the new farm laws enacted by the Centre have led to black-marketing of potatoes and onions, causing a sharp rise in prices of the commodities.

Ms. Banerjee said that she has written to the PM that the Centre should ensure that there is no black-marketing of these items or provide the necessary power to states to tackle the problem.

The CM said at an administrative meeting, “The central government has made destructive farm laws leading to blackmarketing of essential food items like potato and onion.”

The Trinamool Congress supremo further added, “Earlier we used to keep a check on prices of these essential food items but the central acts have robbed the states of their powers. This has caused losses to farmers as well as consumers.”

Alleging that the central government has looted everything from farmers through the acts, the chief minister said that the prices of potatoes are increasing at an alarming rate. The Bengal CM further said that the state government should not be blamed for the high prices of items like potato or onion, which were earlier in the list of essential commodities.

The Centre in September had enacted the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, which removed cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oil, onions, and potatoes from the list.

“The Centre has made such an act that it (pricing) has gone into the hands of blackmarketeers,” Ms. Banerjee said. She also added that the West Bengal government is still selling potatoes at ₹ 25 per kg from its ‘Sufal Bangla’ outlets with the stock that it had procured earlier.

The author is a student member of amity centre of happiness