With onion prices suddenly rising, the Chhattisgarh government told all district Collectors on Thursday to monitor its availability and the retail market price and take steps to check the stocks and shooting prices.
The directive was given by the Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Protection Department.
An official communication said the state-level Price Monitoring Cell had found that in the last one month the retail price of onion has recorded an unprecedented hike.
The Collectors have been told to ensure availability of onions in their districts.
They have urged to hold a meeting of all wholesale and retail onion traders without delay and ensure availability after analyzing the demand and supply. The daily consumption and arrival should be reviewed on a regular basis.
The issues pertaining to import of onion from other states, transportation and storage related should be tackled on priority basis, the statement said.
The wholesale traders should be directed to mandatorily display the available stock and wholesale price of onion.
Collectors have also been directed to spread the message of the wholesale and retail price of onion so that people know the prices. This would prevent the retail sellers from hiking the prices.
Additionally, the Collectors were directed to send a proposal under the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 in the context to Covid-19 on the need to stock up the onion.