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Govt to sell onions at controlled rates
New Delhi
New Delhi
With the prices of onion soaring across North India, the Delhi government is likely to start selling the kitchen staple at controlled prices through fair price shops and mobile vans in the city, a senior government official said on Friday.
The wholesale prices of onions in Maharashtra touched a four-year high at Rs 4,500 per quintal on September 19 due to scarce supply owing to excessive rain in various parts of the country, officials in the food department said, adding the impact of the steep increase is likely to reach Delhi in a day or two.
Meanwhile, in the national capital, the price of onion in retail outlets already reached Rs 70 per kg by Friday.
On Friday, Delhi’s food and supplies minister Imran Hussain directed officials in the department to make adequate arrangements to put a check on the shooting prices of onion and ensure their supply to fair price shops for retail sales in case any “emergent situation arises”, the government said in a press statement.
The government said they had set up a committee to suggest market intervention for checking the prices of essential commodities. This committee is currently focusing on bringing down onion prices.
The government said due to the ongoing phase of ‘Shraadh’ (a 15-day period in the Hindu calendar when people abstain from consuming certain food items, including onions, in remembrance of dead relatives) followed by Navaratri, when the devout fast, the demand of onions is likely to decrease and that will help in neutralising the effect of price rise to some extent.
