BJP Blames ‘Unholy’ Nexus Between Odisha Govt & Traders For Soaring Onion Price

Bhubaneswar: The BJP on Monday came down heavily on the Odisha government, accusing it of failing to contain the spiraling onion price.

Briefing the media here, BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty alleged that the price of onion in the state had skyrocketed due to unholy nexus between the state government and the traders.

“It is a matter of utter regret that the BJD government during its 20-year tenure took no step for preserving onions. This has led to distress sale by farmers,” he added.

Mohanty also urged the government to regulate the price of the key cooking ingredient by procuring the bulb from open market.

Steps To Stabilise Onion Price

Meanwhile, the Odisha government is contemplating to go for market intervention by utilising the price stabilisation fund (PSF).

According to media reports, the government is planning to use Rs 75 crore available in the PSF to procure onion from the buffer stock of the Centre through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED). A decision in this regard will be taken after Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Secretary V V Yadav returns from Delhi.

Onion price had crossed Rs 50 in retail markets of Odisha on September 22.

Centre’s Move

On the other hand, the Centre on Sunday banned export of all varieties of the bulb with immediate effect and imposed stock limits on both retail and wholsesale traders. For retail traders, the onion stock limit has been set at 100 quintals and for wholesale traders, it is 500 quintals.

The crackdown came after retail prices of onion touched ₹80 a kg in Delhi.

Reason

The price rise is being attributed heavy monsoon that damaged crops. The situation is expected to remain the same for at least a month.