MUMBAI: With onion farmers and traders up in arms against the Centre's announcement to impose 40 per cent duty on the export of the kitchen staple, cabinet minister Dada Bhuse asked people to stop consuming onion if they cannot afford to.
The markets in Maharashtra including Asia’s largest onion market in Lasalgaon were shut down in protest against the central government's decision to impose 40 per cent duty on the export of onion. The farmers said the Centre's decision will bring prices of pod onion tumbling down in the domestic market.
Against this backdrop, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde camp) minister, Dada Bhuse said that farmers should get decent prices for their crops. “If some people feel the present onion prices are unreasonable they should stop eating onion for the next three to four months. If they don't eat onion, nothing will happen to their health,” Bhuse said.
He also said that if people can afford to buy a car, they can indeed afford to shell out an extra Rs 10 on kg of onion.
Reacting to the minister's remark, NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said this government is insensitive toward the problems faced by consumers and farmers.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said the BJP-led government is preoccupied with poaching MLAs and toppling governments and hence it is not concerned about the people.
On the other hand, farmers are concerned about onion prices. Nanasaheb Patil, former chairman of the Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) said during summer, when the onion prices crashed, farmers were either forced to dump their produce on the roads or sell at throw-away prices. At that time, nobody including Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to the rescue of the farmers. Now, when the farmers are able to get some decent prices, the government has imposed a duty on the export of onion. This will damage the market and farmers will be deprived of getting the a fair price for their produce.
Minister's take on consuming fish and Aishwarya Rai's eyes
Earlier, tribal development minister Vijaykumar Gavit (BJP) stirred a hornet's nest by saying Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has got beautiful eyes because she used to eat fish regularly. He said youths should consume fish so that it will help them have fair skin snd eyes like Aishwarya Rai and this would help them lure the girls and boys of their choice.