Private
players join government efforts to provide affordable vegetables
By Dinesh Kamath
NAVI MUMBAI: In order to provide affordable vegetables to the
public, two private players joined the effort. The Future Consumer group and
D'Mart chain of stores added nine centres of their own, taking the tally to 49.
Most
new outlets are located in Navi Mumbai. Navi Mumbai residents feel as if their
wish has come true. They are happy about the fact that they will now be able to
buy fruits at a lower cost than before.
A
senior APMC official does not deny that prices have fallen in the vicinity of
the centres but he complains that these prices remain high elsewhere. He says,
“The concentration of outlets in one place puts pressure on profiteering
traders there. Each day, they note down prices at the government centres and
then fix their rates. Residents of some places in Mumbai are being fleeced by
small retailers.”
A
resident of Khanda Colony, Panvel says, “The prices of vegetables are high in
some parts of the city. Hence the people residing over there flock to such
centers. The center then appears like an annual village fair. Although their
goods are not of high quality, their prices are very low. It is in localities
where lower middle class people reside that there is urgent need for government
intervention.”
Residents
of affluent areas are forced to pay a lot of money for vegetables that cost
much less in middle class localities. The hawkers in these areas are aware of
the fact that the residents over here are very rich and so they don’t hesitate
to raise the prices considerably even of basic vegetables and fruits. The affluent
residents here too seldom bargain and pay up whatever vendors ask. The
sufferers are some poor residents of these affluent areas who too have to bear
the burden of paying huge price for the goods sold in this area. These are the
people who are in need of centers like Sahakari Bhandar that sells good quality
foodstuff at cheaper rates. But the affluent residents just do not patronise
these outlets since they can afford the price that the hawkers charge.
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