VIJAYAWADA/VISAKHAPATNAM: Long queues were seen at various rythu bazars in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam on Friday as people made a beeline for buying onions at the subsidised price of Rs 40.
In tune with the government decision to introduce onions at subsidised price in a phased manner after the price of the vegetable crossed Rs 100 per kg, agriculture marketing department officials started selling them in both Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam and in a limited Rythu Bazars in Kakinada and Kurnool. Rythu Bazars in Tirupati and few other cities and towns are likely to sell onions at subsidised price from Saturday and it will be extended to other towns and villages in a phased manner.
Taking stock of the situation, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to take stern action against those who create artificial scarcity of essential commodities in the name of floods and heavy rains and asked the Collectors and SPs to ensure that onions are sold at Rs 40 per kg at rythu bazars. Agriculture Minister Kursala Kannababu said the collectors and SPs were asked to ensure that all shops display the price list prominently. “As per the instructions of Jagan, onions were purchased through Nafed and are being sold at the rythu bazars at Rs 40 per kg,” he said.
Krishna district received 20 metric tonnes of onions from Pune on Friday. The subsidised onions, which are being sold in the rythu bazars in the view of soaring prices, were made available only in Vijayawada city area on Friday.
“We do not know the exact quantity. But more quantity has been loaded in Pune and the transportation will start tonight. It will take at least 24 hours for the produce to reach Tadapalligudem and another three hours to reach Vijayawada,” said Krishna district additional director, marketing, Diwakar Rao.
However, though 20 MT onions had reached Tadapalligudem on Friday morning, the onions were not available for the customers till afternoon. Many buyers had to return empty handed and were asked to come in the evening.
In Visakhapatnam, the sale of subsidised onions began at 7 am at all rythu bazars in the district. Long queues were seen at rythu bazars, where special counters were set up for sale of the subsidised onions.Marketing officials told TNIE that they procured 20 metric tonnes of onions from Tadepalligudem. At Seethammadhara and MVP Colony rythu bazars, onions were sold in the morning and evening.
At regular counters in the market, onions are being sold at Rs 74 kg while in the open market, the prices range between Rs 90 and Rs 110 depending on the quality.