Frequent strikes in the neighbouring Indian state of Assam are affecting potato business at the auction yard in Samdrup Jongkhar.
Every time, there is a strike, buyers from India cannot make it to the auction yard which means, the Bhutanese farmers who come with potatoes at the auction yard from the eastern parts of the country have to wait. It can be a day’s wait and sometimes much longer that.
There have been numerous strikes in the past few months due to clashes between Assam’s indigenous Bodo and Muslim Bengali settlers.