Maharashtra lobby behind 'false shortage' of onion: Balyan

Union Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan today said the "false shortage" of onion in the country was because of a lobby in Maharashtra.
"An onion lobby active in Maharashtra created false shortage of onion, leading to rise in its prices... Now the central government is taking steps to check it effectively," Balyan told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
"As a part of our efforts, cultivation of onion and pulses in the northern states will be encouraged and buffer storage of these will be undertaken," Balyan added.
Attacking the Uttar Pradesh government, he alleged that six months ago when the Centre had asked states to give their demand for pulses, UP had not sent it.

"UP also did not take any step when a campaign was launched against hoarding of pulses and onion... They did not find it right to carry out raids because of which hoarders continued to make profits," the minister said.
Stressing that the Centre was working out a plan to purchase pulses from farmers, Balyan said this will check prices and provide direct profit to farmers.

He said imported pulses will be available in the market soon, which will also bring the prices down.
Referring to Uttar Pradesh, he said power rests in the hands of one family and people were facing immense hardships as law and order was completely dismal.

"BSP is not able to play its role of the main opposition... Its leaders are busy saving themselves by somehow managing caste equations. People will give a befitting reply in the 2017 assembly elections," he said.
Earlier, addressing the convocation function at Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Balyan asked scientists to ensure that benefit of their research work reached farmers so that they could get maximum benefit from their hard work.
He also asked them to create awareness towards animal husbandary.