Even as prices of most vegetables continue to rise unabated in the national capital, chief minister Sheila Dikshit was running from pillar to post on Thursday to salvage the situation.
The Delhi government will approach the Election Commission to sell onions through mobile vans in the city. The permission is mandatory as the model code of conduct is in force now. Dikshit on Thursday held meetings with agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and food minister KV Thomas on the onion price issue.
Explaining the reason behind the price rise, local vegetable wholesaler Bijendar Singh said: ‘Every single vegetable has a separate trader under the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. Every supplier in the market has his/her fixed wholesaler and trader. The monopoly created by traders has led to rise in the prices of the vegetables in Delhi. Prices are expected to rise further before Diwali.’
‘It is not easy work for Delhi government to control the increasing prices of vegetables,’ he added.
Explaining the situation, Singh said, ‘Many traders stocked vegetables in cold stores leading to a price hike in mandis. They wait for demand to go up to sell them at higher prices. The artificial shortage created by traders exists because of a lack of market monitoring from the bodies concerned, the local people are hit hard in the process.’ ‘This year the prices of vegetables rose by around 100 per cent compared to last year,’ Singh added.
Dikshit said eight thousand quintals of onions have arrived in the national capital which could help bring down prices. She said, NAFED has also been asked to improve supplies of onion on a no-profit no-loss basis.
The Delhi government will approach the Election Commission to sell onions through mobile vans in the city. The permission is mandatory as the model code of conduct is in force now. Dikshit on Thursday held meetings with agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and food minister KV Thomas on the onion price issue.
Explaining the reason behind the price rise, local vegetable wholesaler Bijendar Singh said: ‘Every single vegetable has a separate trader under the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. Every supplier in the market has his/her fixed wholesaler and trader. The monopoly created by traders has led to rise in the prices of the vegetables in Delhi. Prices are expected to rise further before Diwali.’
‘It is not easy work for Delhi government to control the increasing prices of vegetables,’ he added.
Explaining the situation, Singh said, ‘Many traders stocked vegetables in cold stores leading to a price hike in mandis. They wait for demand to go up to sell them at higher prices. The artificial shortage created by traders exists because of a lack of market monitoring from the bodies concerned, the local people are hit hard in the process.’ ‘This year the prices of vegetables rose by around 100 per cent compared to last year,’ Singh added.
Dikshit said eight thousand quintals of onions have arrived in the national capital which could help bring down prices. She said, NAFED has also been asked to improve supplies of onion on a no-profit no-loss basis.