Inside Krishi Bhavan on Tuesday morning, Central Ministers listed their efforts to quell the soaring price of onions in the city.
Just outside the building, which houses the Agriculture and Food Ministries, government clerks mingled with housewives from a nearby slum cluster in long queues at an NCCF truck, jostling for the chance to buy 2 kg each of discounted onions. At the Capital’s retail markets, the kitchen staple is selling ₹70-80 per kg, the truck is selling the vegetable for just ₹22 per kg.
“The truck has been here for at least two weeks. I have been coming almost every day. But many people have only joined the queue today as the price has gone up over the last few days,” said Parveen Kaushal, a retired social worker. Several hundred people turned up on Tuesday morning, and even after the truck closed for lunch, more than 50 people stayed in line, awaiting the afternoon session. “I saw the price was ₹70 in my local market and so I thought I should use my lunch break to buy onions from here,” said Sunita, who works in a Krishi Bhavan office.
“Now, even these people sitting in their air-conditioned offices are willing to come to sweat it out with us,” said Seema, who works as a gardener in the nearby Shastri Bhavan compound. “But it is not just onions. All vegetables are very costly these days. How will the poor eat?”
Central agencies — NAFED and NCCF — have been drawing from central buffer stock to sell onions at ₹22 per kg over the past few weeks in fair price shops and mobile vans. Mother Dairy’s Safal shops sell the vegetable for ₹23.90 per kg. About 200 tonnes of onions are being offloaded from the central buffer into the city’s markets daily. “I have tried the Safal onions but they are very poor quality. You have to throw out half of what you buy. This truck sells better quality,” said Ms. Kaushal.
On Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal promised that the government would begin selling the vegetable at ₹24 per kg. Kiran Sood, a housewife from the nearby slum, is dismissive of that promise. “When Modi sarkar is already selling for ₹22 per kg, why would anyone buy at a higher rate from Delhi sarkar?” she asked.
Published - September 25, 2019 12:51 am IST
