BHUBANESWAR: As people across the State grapple with skyrocketing onion prices, the State Government is sitting pretty leaving the teary eyed consumers at the mercy of the market forces.
While the average selling price of onion in major cities was as high as `140 a kg, the spiraling prices of the kitchen staple of every household is threatening to cross `150 mark in a day or two.
The edible bulb, once a delight of the poor and a common ingredient in all the dishes served on the dining table, which was selling at `70-80 a kg a week ago in most parts of the State including the Twin-City of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar saw a sudden spike in price from Wednesday due to huge shortfall in supply.
The wholesale price of onion in the Twin-City saw a further increase of `100-110 per quintal on Thursday as against the prices of Wednesday despite marginal improvement in supply. The city got a supply of 130 tonne on Thursday against 40 tonne on Wednesday, said general secretary of Odisha Byabasayee Mahasangha Sudhakar Panda.
As the current supply of onion is far less than the demand, the prices of the commodity are bound to increase. Chances of hoarding are more at the retail points.“We have no control over the retail markets. It is for the Government to ensure that all consumers have access to the commodity at a price where the margin of profit will be reasonable,” said Panda.He said the Government has convened a meeting with traders’ representatives on Friday to discuss ways to tackle the current onion crisis.
The discussion will be in the light of the outcome of Group of Ministers meeting at the Centre.
On market intervention by the Government, general secretary of the Kuderpur Merchant Association Shakti Shankar Mishra said it is not possible at this point of time. The prices of onion is too high at the source markets because of scarcity across the country.It is time for the State Government to introspect and rethink about the Onion Mission which it had promised in 2015.
In a similar situation in 2015 when onion price touched `50 a kg in retail markets, the State Government announced to launch Onion Mission to tackle the shortage. While the mission remained a mere pronouncement, the Government never bothered to come to the rescue of the onion growers by ensuring them remunerative price through the market intervention scheme (MIS).