Buyers queueing up at subsidised onion stalls at the Rythu Bazaar are being turned away if they do not furnish a ration card. Aadhar cards or any any other ID proof is not being accepted. For those who do not have a ration card, the only recourse is to buy onions in the open markets, where prices are hovering in the Rs.50 to Rs. 70 per kg range.
A total of 1130353 people from below-poverty-line (BPL) households have ration cards in Krishna district. When prices shot through the roof last month, the State Government started supplying onions for Rs.20 a kg at Rythu Bazaars from July 30.
Initially the sale was open to all comers. But when stock arrivals began dipping, the Government issued instructions to Marketing Department officials to limit the subsidy to those who produce ration cards. That has cut out a large number of consumers in Vijayawada. There were similar reports from other parts of the state. Turned away from the Rythu Bazaar queues, buyers trudged to the Kaleswararao market at One Town or the wholesale market near the VMC office in the hope of cheaper onions.
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One customer K Srinivasa Murthy from Patamata became irate when told that his Aadhar card would not pass muster. “This is not fair. The government must sell to families not having ration cards too.”” While vendors in the open markets are selling onions for prices ranging from Rs.55 to Rs.60 a kg, supermarkets have marked it up to Rs.70. A few supermarkets are offering a Rs. 2 discount for two kg.
Friday may be a difficult day for onion hunters in the city. Stocks did not arrive on Thursday as there had been no procurement in the Kurnool market rard on Wednesday due to the bandh. But the Marketing Department placed an indent for four lorries for Vijayawada, Bapulapadu and Machilipatnam. “We are hopeful that we’ll receive the stocks by afternoon on Friday,” said assistant director J Ravi Kumar.
This is not fair. The government must sell to families not having ration cards too.
- K Srinivasa Murthy, citizen, Patamata