MARGAO
As the Gandhi Market Vegetable and Readymade Vendors Association imposed a ban on the sale of Karnataka tambdi bhaji in the Gandhi market, local vegetable growers and vendors wondered how would they survive and eke a living if the local markets are flooded by tambdi bhaji coming from outside the state.
That’s not all. They pointed out that tambdi bhaji from Karnataka is being sold in the markets under the guise that the vegetable is produced from Goa, fearing that this would shake up the confidence of tambdi bhaji consumers in the long run.
Around 800-odd vendors hailing from the Scheduled Tribes community, are members of the Gandhi Market Vegetable and Readymade Garments Vendors Association. Not only these vendors come to the Gandhi market every day, but they make their presence felt with the vegetable produce grown in the villages of Davorlim-Dicarpale, located on the outskirts of Margao.
A vegetable vendor from Dicarpale, Effy Furtado wondered how would the local vegetable growers survive and eke a living if there is no market for the locally grown tambdi bhaji. “We slog in our fields and bring the vegetable to the Gandhi market early morning. If there is no market for our produce, our efforts would go in vain”, she said.
She added: “We have instances of customers giving us inputs that the tambdi bhaji they consumed lacked the typical Goan flavour. This shows that outside bhaji is being sold to locals that it is grown locally.”
Former deputy chief minister Manohar Babu Ajgaonakr told The Goan that he had to call for a ban on outside tambdi bhaji in the Gandhi market since it will affect the local vendors engaged in vegetable cultivation. “Our Association members toil in the fields to produce the much-sought after vegetables, including tambdi bhaji. Just imagine the impact outside bhaji will have on the local produce and the overall vegetable cultivation, Babu added.
