By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 12, 2015 :

The Odisha government has decided to constitute a state level purchase committee for procurement of pulses in view of the ongoing strike by Federation of All Odisha Traders Association (FAOTA), officials said on Sunday.

The FAOTA has stopped import of pulses, wheat and wheat products since April 9 from outside states demanding waiver of five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on these products.

The state government will be drawing up an action plan for two months to meet the situation arising out of the strike by the traders in the state.

A high level meeting chaired by food supplies and consumer welfare minister Sanjay Dasburma held at the state secretariat yesterday apart from the above mentioned decisions decided to float tenders for procurement of 10,000 tonnes of pulses in the first phase which would be made available to the public across the state through 20,000 fair price shops.

The state government has directed all district collectors to be on the alert against black marketers and hoarders and tightening of enforcement measures.

On the other hand, the FAOTA at its steering committee meeting held here Sunday decided to continue with its agitation which commenced from April 9. The Federation, however, said that it was open to discussions with the state government.

While Mr Dasburma and state finance minister Pradip Amat on Saturday had appealed to the traders’ body for withdrawing from their agitation in the greater interest of the consumers of the state, the latter had made it clear that the proposal made by the traders’ body for introduction of 1 per cent entry tax in lieu of 5 per cent VAT was not possible at this juncture.

“The minister is misleading the people. Two dozen states in the country have exempted VAT on agricultural produce. We have suggested the government can impose one per cent VAT on the agri products entering the state. That would fetch the government at least Rs 80 crore while the government is now getting only Rs 65 crore”, FAOTA general secretary Sudhakar Panda on Sunday told ‘Bizodisha.com’.

He blamed a handful of unscrupulous traders from the state, politicians and a section of top officials for the impasse, but made it clear that the Federation would only withdraw the strike till their demand is meant.