Vegetable wars
When a mob of Belgaum vegetable traders can destroy tonnes of vegetables bound for Goa and the local police just look on, it is time that the Goa State Horticulture Development Corporation (HDC) takes its business elsewhere. No doubt, Belgaum is the place from where Goa has been getting its vegetables for decades. But if the traders there want to conspire with Goa’s profiteering vegetable vendors – who are upset that the Horticulture Corporation’s outlets have downed their super-profits – and the local police just stand by, there is no reason to continue.
Belgaum is by no means the only source of vegetables. There is Sirsi, Kolhapur, Satara, Karad and several other places, all of which send vegetables everyday to distant Mumbai. They would jump at a chance to send some to Goa, which is much closer. Horticulture Corporation Chairman Sankalp Amonkar and Managing Director Orlando Rodrigues should waste no time in looking for alternate sources of vegetable supplies. All of Goa’s veggies should not be in the Belgaum basket.
Belgaum’s vegetable suppliers were apparently supposed to meet yesterday to decide whether to continue supplying vegetables to the corporation. They have every right to do so. But they have no right to obstruct any trader that wants to business with Goa. Similarly, Goa has every right to get its vegetables from elsewhere. Blocking transport of vegetables to Goa may cause Goans some temporary problems, but if Agriculture Minister Vishwajeet Rane, Mr Amonkar and Mr Rodrigues are as good as their word, it is Belgaum’s traders who will lose if Goa buys vegetables from other markets.
However, the disturbing aspect of this whole business is that the government spends as much as Rs85 lakh a month on so-called ‘subsidies’ for vegetables. As anybody who has been to Belgaum and shopped in the markets there knows, there is a huge difference in both price and quality between the vegetables sold there and those sold in Goa. Except for onions during the recent crisis, it doesn’t seem as if subsidies are required if vegetables are to be sold at reasonable prices through the corporation’s outlets. Something doesn’t seem quite right here.
It is this precise point that has been raised by the Opposition BJP, which has alleged that the corporation is buying vegetables from Belgaum wholesalers at a hefty commission. In response, Agriculture minister Vishwajeet Rane has announced an internal audit into the state horticulture corporation’s subsidised scheme, to look into these allegations of cheating. But can an internal audit at all do justice to such serious charges?
There is no gainsaying that the corporation’s outlets are a boon for Goans. They not only constitute a source of reasonably priced vegetables, but also provide employment to hundreds of Goans. But this cannot be an excuse for corruption and/or cheating. If Mr Rane and Mr Amonkar want a proper clean chit for the scheme, they must do more than hide behind an internal audit.
Bypass blues
Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has done well to assure activists from Curchorem that a special bypass road will be constructed for mining trucks. This will reduce the terrible congestion that the town faces, as well as deaths from frequent road accidents. An eight-day hunger strike by the activists has finally yielded results.
The government’s earlier proposal, to four-lane the existing district road only for the stretch used by mining trucks, made no sense at all. Apart from the usual road-widening problems with houses along the road, it would have condemned Curchorem to face mining trucks driving through the town for the foreseeable future.
