Govt should roll back 40 per cent duty on onion export: Raju Shetti

On Monday, Nashik District  Traders Union have decided to close the onion auction indefinitely in all  the APMCs. Lasalgaon in Nashik district is the biggest onion wholesale market.

The farmer leader Shetti whose orgsnisation SSS also participated actively in protest against centre at Nashik said termed centre’s move anti farmers.

” The BJP government at centre is concerned about elections and results. The adhoc decision to import 40 pc duty on onion export is a move taken by centre to bring down onion prices to please consumers. It is vote bank politics,” Shetti explained.

“The duty on onion import is keeping in sight the coming  state assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan et al. As they want to keep voters happy by ensuring low rate onion. But in doing so, they are blind to farmers problems,” Shetti said. Such shortsightedness will not work. The BJPs logic is  farmers are small in numbers compared to consumers. But what they don’t realize is if farmers take to streets across country it can shake the government.

In doing so the PM Narendra Modi’s government is completely overlooking the concerns of farmers, he lamented.

The farmers leader said, ” During  shravan ( Hindu calander) which comes in monsoon a section of people avoid non vegetarian food including onions. As a result the consumption of onion decline. So rates come down with lower demand and surplus stock.” By imposing the higher duty on onion export the prices will crash completely.

With intense rainfall the farmers have already suffered due to crop damage. Out of ten tonne onions almost 1.5 to 2 tonnes are already spoilt due to rains. With export farmers could have recovered some cost and earned profit. But government has pushed the farmers in greater financial crisis, Shetti argued.

Earlier, at a meeting held in Nashik the traders had said the export duty will adversely affect them financially.

To convey their displeasure the Nashik District onion Traders took extreme step of closing the onion auctions indefinitely.

The state agriculture minister Dhananjay Munde has assured to address the onion growers problems.

Munde said, ” I will convey the onion cultivators problems to Union minister for commerce Piyush Goyal. And if required will go to Delhi.”