NEW DELHI: Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Monday wrote to Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on reports that 32,000 tonnes on onions were left to rot at godowns run by the central government.
“Onion has become a luxury item now. It is beyond the reach of the poor. I am reminded of a story by Munshi Prem Chand in which onions were famously described as gold on the plates of the poor. At a time when prices of onion are sky-rocketing across the country, your statement in the Lok Sabha that 32,000 tonnes of onions were left to rot in Centre’s godowns is, indeed, shocking. The rotting onions could well have been used to meet the shortage in the country. It would have also kept onion prices under control,” Singh wrote.
Claiming criminal negligence by the Centre, Singh posed a series of questions to the minister. A sitting Rajya Sabha MP, Singh asked if such a huge volume of onions rotted in a single day, and if so, whether any central department had an inkling of it.
“Has any action been taken against any officer or officers responsible for the procurement and maintenance of onions?” Singh wrote.