Pointing that onion prices were skyrocketing despite of increased production, Congress legislative Party leader Sunil Jakhar on Monday blamed the BJP-led NDA Government for safeguarding interests of black marketers and hoarders.
“The reports released by the Union Ministry of Agriculture indicated that cultivation of onion in 2010-11 covered 10,64,000 hectares of land and the production was 151.18 lakh tonne, in the successive years it was 175.11 lakh tonne over 10,85,200 hectares, 168.13 lakh tonne over 10,51,500 hectares, 187.77 lakh tonne over 11,73,300 hectares and 189.23 lakh tonnes last year,” pointed Jakhar.
He said: “When the onion prices soared to `30 per kg allegedly due to hoarding besides damage done by untimely rains, the BJP had organised protests across the country, SAD did it in Punjab. Now onion, known as BPl families’ vegetable, was being sold at `50 per kg across the country but the NDA constituents are not only maintaining a studied silence but terming it as no issue.”
Putting the Centre in dock, Jakhar asked if there was downfall in production, why export of 12,38,102 metric tonnes of onion was permitted. “NDA has come in the dock for devising ways and means to benefit big business houses, they become immune over rise in prices of essential commodities as and when voted to power,” he said.
He said that farmers were not the beneficiaries of price rise, they hardly get remunerative price for any produce, and there has been no check on incidents of suicides by debt ridden farmers in the State.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should dare to comment on the sad plight of farmers and consumers as well, he added.