Prices will keep falling, onion crisis over

Employees at the Tilak Lane outlet say they have stopped selling onions since yesterday as there are very few customers. “We got 300-400 kg of onion every day from NAFED and the stocks were sold within hours. Now the onions rot for days. Sometimes, we don’t manage to sell even 20 kg in a day,” says an employee. Besides, he adds, the outlet does not have enough space to store the vegetable and sufficient manpower to sell it. Some customers from areas like Vivek Vihar, however, complain that subsidised onions are not available at the Super Bazar outlets as the employees are holding back the stock. A senior Delhi Government official requesting anonymity says, “Some employees are trying to make a little money by selling their stock to a select group. They are aware that onion prices will soon touch Rs 10.” The Connaught Place Super Bazar is still clearing its 12-tonne daily onion consignment from NAFED. “Even today, NAFED sent us 12,854 tonnes of onion,” says Lakshman Singh Rawat, in-charge of onion salesat the Super Bazar.

Since demands have fallen, officials here have increased the quota per customer from 3 kg to between 4 and 5 kg. If there are any leftovers at the end of the day, these are rerouted to other Super Bazar outlets in Vittal Bhai Patel House, North Avenue, South Avenue and RML Hospital. The Mother Dairy/Safal outlets like the one at Todar Mal Road are, however, sticking to the 3 kg-per-person-per-week stipulation made by the Delhi Government. But even here, officials and customers say onions are always available.