Letters: Onion tears

With reference to the report, "Onion crisis: Centre may hold talks with states on Thursday" (August 26), one wonders why the government took so long to try and control the skyrocketing prices of onions in the country.

The Centre's move to set up a price stabilisation fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore to enable states to sell onions at prices below market rates has come too late. As some consolation there are reports of a marginal decline in onion prices at the wholesale market in Maharashtra's Lasalgaon, but there is no such respite in its retail prices.

The slight fall in prices is being attributed to the state government's crackdown on hoarders and the Centre's move to hike the export price of onions. Do we have surplus onions for export now? And what about the nexus between suppliers, hoarders and brokers, who are taking the fullest advantage of the situation citing short supply? This kind of situation can happen only in India where the fate of the people usually remains 'mortgaged' to the whims of politicians, self-centred leaders, hoarders, black marketeers and brokers, who call the shots.

S Kumar New Delhi

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