The Election Commission of India on Friday allowed Delhi Government to facilitate sale of onions in the Capital at cheaper prices.
Sources said the Government will ask traders to reduce their margin on sale of onions so as to offer relief to the consumers. With the model code of conduct in force, the Delhi Government had written to the Election Commission for permission to sell onions at cheaper rates.
The letter was written by Chief Secretary DM Spolia to Election Commission seeking permission to allow sale of onions through mobile vans to bring down the rates in the Capital. Onions are currently selling `90-`100 a kilo in certain areas of the city. According to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vijay Dev, the letter was forwarded to the Election Commission of India for further directions. However, sources said the CEO office was not consulted by the ECI before the decision was taken.
“In the past on a number of occasions, Delhi Government and its organisations have intervened to ensure the stability of prices of edible commodities. This was also done recently in August-September 2013. Prices of onion have again shot up. Delhi Government intends to take steps to ensure price stability. NAFED is being requested to arrange bulk supplies of adequate amounts of onions in Delhi. After that arrangement will be made to ensure retail supply by involving traders. No Government subsidy or funding should be involved,” the letter said.
Meanwhile, the enforcement team of Delhi Government on Friday continued to raids at wholesale traders and retailer in various mandis to check hoardings but they found no hoarding by traders. Meanwhile, Delhi Government team has reached Maharashtra to assess the availability of onions from the Nashik and Maharashtra market in a bid to lower prices of the kitchen staple.