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New
Delhi: With high onion prices bringing people across
India to tears, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday queried
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on the reasons for the spike,
while announcing relief for distressed farmers in Maharashtra.
The matter was raised after an all-party delegation, led by
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, met with the prime
minister to seek relief for the state's farmers. Among those
present was Pawar, who is from Maharashtra, the main onion-growing
state.
At the meeting, the prime minister announced a Rs.400-crore
advance relief package for farmers affected by unseasonal rains in
the state that damaged several crops, notably the onion produce,
sending prices spiralling.
"Requirement of further assistance will be considered in light of
the assessment made by an inter-ministerial central team, after
visiting the state," said a statement from the Prime Minister's
Office.
Manmohan Singh's chat with Pawar later came against the backdrop
of opposition's angst at an alleged statement by the agriculture
minister three days ago that onion prices could take three weeks
to come down.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) slammed the
government not just for high onion prices, but also for what it
called were divergent voices and approach by various ministries on
steps needed to bring prices of onions and other vegetables down.
"There are contradictory statements of different ministries
regarding the steps required to control the price of onions, as
for example whether official agencies should import onions or
not," said its politburo.
Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule defended the comment.
"He (Pawar) could have easily said that the prices would come down
within a week's time. But then, if the prices had failed to come
down, he would have been criticised again," Sule said in Baramati,
her constituency.
Onion prices, meanwhile stabilised at Rs.40 a kg, after shooting
up to over Rs.85 per kg, thanks to some 175 truckloads, ferrying
around 1,500 tonnes, arriving from Pakistan via the Atari-Wagah
border in Punjab.
The Delhi government also ensured availability of onions through
some 400 Mother Dairy outlets in the capital and select Kendriya
Bhandar shops, officials said.
As high prices of onions, fruits, milk, eggs, meat and poultry
pushed India's annual food inflation to double-digits, the
government took more steps Thursday to augment supplies and
assured people their financial burden will ease soon.
Apart from asking the state-run trading agencies MMTC, STC and PEC
to import onions, Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar chaired a
key meeting and decided to move the tuber from all possible places
to deficit states like the national capital.
Chandrasekhar's remarks came as India's food inflation based on
wholesale prices zoomed to double-digit 12-13 percent for the week
ended Dec 11 from 9.46 percent the week before, marking the third
successive week of rise and a four-month high.
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma Thursday said some one million
tonnes of the crop, against the annual production of 18 million
tonnes, was lost due to unseasonal rains but that supplies will be
augmented through duty-free imports and the ban on exports.
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