Cheaper onions at Government outlets in the Capital have failed to attract many buyers because of their poor quality.
While Government outlets including Mother Dairy sold onions at Rs 50 per kg on Wednesday, the price of the vegetable in the open market was between Rs 60 to 70.However, buyers said they preferred the onion available in mandis and retail chain outlets as the quality of onion being sold at Mother Dairy and Government outlets is bad and the price difference is only Rs 10 or 20 at the most.
Spurred by criticism over soaring prices of onion, the Delhi Government decided to supply cheap onions to a population of 1.67 crore people through its 350 outlets and 50 mobile vans. Yet, there seems to be no end to the woes of the common man as, after flocking to procure the commodity from the Government’s ‘Safal’ outlets people found themselves on the receiving end, with sub-standard vegetables, particularly onions, being sold there.
“We walked three kilometres to buy cheaper onions from Safal, but the quality of onions available there came as a big disappointment,” said Manju and Rajan Singh, standing outside Mayur Vihar Phase III’s C Block outlet.Another customer, a resident of Patparganj, termed the Government scheme an eyewash. “My wife has started using small onions now. There is a Safal outlet near our home but it is of no use as good quality vegetables are available only early in the morning and they get sold within an hour or so,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, prices of the edible bulb in all four wholesale markets of the city dipped marginally by Rs 2 on Wednesday. “Today, the maximum price of onion went down to Rs 48 per kg, whereas yesterday it was Rs 50. Monday witnessed the maximum hike as prices soared to Rs 55 per kg due to lowsupply,” said R Sharma,chairman of Agricultural Produce Marketing Com mittee (Azadpur).
The rates will be nearly stable now, however, a drastic fall in prices anytime soon is unlikely, he added. Markets in laxmi Nagar, Shakarpur, Preet Vihar, Mayur Vihar and Dilshad Garden of East Delhi were selling onions between Rs 60 to 70. In lodhi Colony, INA Market and Bhogal in South Delhi, it was being sold at Rs 70. Besides, retail outlets like More sold it at Rs 67 a kilo, whereas, Reliance Fresh quoted a price of Rs 60 per kg.