Concerned over the sky-rocketing of prices of onion and disapproving of the policies of the Union Government, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for temporary suspension of export of onion.
“In view of the spiraling prices which affect the common the most, kindly intervene in the matter and temporarily suspend the exports of onion from the country with immediate effect,” Patnaik requested in a letter to the Prime Minister.
“There is an urgent need to suspend the onion exports temporarily to increase availability in the domestic market which will bring relief for a vast number of consumers in the country,” he said.
Stating that the production of onions had reduced this year due to the vagaries of monsoon in onion producing areas of Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka resulting in a drastic reduction in the supply of onion in the domestic market, Patnaik lamented that the Government of India was continuing to allow the exports of onions even now.
Referring to the steep price, Patnaik said it was hurting the common man who was already reeling under the effects of price rise of several items of general use like fuel and food grains, etc.
Onion prices have been rising steeply in the past few months. The average retail price of onion in Odisha has gone up by about 160 per cent from `19 a kg about 2 months back to `50 this week, he pointed out.