Onion price rise has made city a basket case. Since running rings around onion prices don’t help, the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday sought Centre’s intervention to rein in the rates of onion in the Capital. She also asked for permission from Election Commission of India (ECI) to allow sale of the edible bulb in the city at a reasonable price. In this connection, the Congress leader met Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Union Consumer Affairs Minister KV Thomas on Thursday. She requested them to improve supply of the kitchen staple to Delhi. Onion prices in the national Capital have remained high since last three months on supply crunch due to unseasonal rains in producing areas.
“The situation is very serious. We are trying to stabilise the prices,” she said after the meeting the Ministers. During the meeting, Dikshit apprised the Ministers about the unprecedented price rise in onions, an important staple as far as Delhiites are concerned. The Union Ministers gave a patient hearing to Dikshit, Food and Supplies minister Haroon Yusuf and chief secretary DM Spolia also shared their concern over the issue. Earlier in August also, Dikshit had met Pawar and urged him to take immediate steps to control prices. However, since then, the price situation has rather worsened.
Dikshit further requested the Union Ministers to instruct NAFED to make available ample quantity of onions for Delhi on a no-profit no-loss basis to enable the State Government to stabilise the price of onions. She also apprised about the appeal made to the wholesale traders in Delhi requesting them to deploy their vans across the city to facilitate sale of onions at reasonable rates. It was stated that traders have deployed around 55 vans.
Delhi Government may approach Delhi Chief Electoral Office to seek its permission for resumption of onion sale by the Government to stabilise the prices in the Capital as it was being done earlier during unusual and abnormal hike in the prices of onions. Dikshit also indicated that the Government will bring an amendment in the act to have control over onion price in the Capital.
We will soon amend APMC (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee) Act. Delhi is not a producing State but a consuming and trading state. Control of prices has to be there in the producing States,” she added.