NEW DELHI: Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain on Friday reviewed the status of onion supply and prices in the backdrop of a diminished supply due to excessive rains in several states, especially Maharashtra.
“Its repercussions will be felt in retail markets across the country, it is being apprehended....The officers present in the meeting informed that due to ongoing phase of Shraadhs followed by the festive Navratri period, the demand decreases which will help in neutralising some of the effect of price rise of onions,” a government statement said.
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Onion prices are a sensitive matter in Delhi, especially with the Assembly election due next year. The price rise of the humble bulb is considered as a major reason for the fall of the BJP government in 1998.
Hussain asserted that the government plans to sell onions through Fair Price Shops (FPSs) and Mobile Vans in order to check the price rise. Teams of officers of food and civil supplies department and Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) were already making regular inspections and carrying out enforcement activities to keep a check on hoarding, black-marketing and profiteering, he said.
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“The letter of GoI which states that Nafed in a position to supply 200 metric tonnes of onions daily through eight trucks for their retail sale in Delhi, as a measure of market intervention for checking retail price, was discussed. During the meeting, various options to make onions available at affordable prices were discussed,” the statement added.
The Food and Civil Supplies (CFS) Commissioner, senior DSCSC officers and others attended the meeting. Hussain directed the officials that corrective action were to be taken promptly as average wholesale prices of onions have risen sharply in last two-three days in Lasalgaon and Nashik.
The Food and Civil Supplies Department and the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation (DSCSC) were directed to expedite tender process for making adequate arrangements for supply of onions at various FPSs for their retail sales in case any emergent situation arises.