Despite Going Off Menu In Goa & Criminal Case Against Food Minister, Why Is Onion Price Rising?

It has been over two months since the price of onions, a staple in most Indian kitchens, sky-rocketed but despite numerous attempts, we have failed to curb the rising prices of onion. In fact, what was a shock when the price of onion surged to Rs 100/kg in Delhi and elsewhere last month but now the onion is costing people as much as Rs 200/kg in many parts of the country.

Tamil Nadu: Onions being sold for Rs 200 in Madurai. Moorthy, an onion trader says, "Customers who used to buy 5 kg onions are now buying only 1 kg onions." Jaya Subha, an onion buyer says, "I am spending Rs 350-400 per week only on buying onions." pic.twitter.com/z4ocCabCNr

¡ª ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2019

Onion, needless to mention, occupies a special place in Indian kitchens and is savoured in large quantity by people in the subcontinent. But its soaring prices have dimmed the spirits in most households. The price, as evident, is even costlier than that of petrol and diesel, which spark massive protests across the country every time that a certain paisa is increased.

Goa restaurateurs badly hit

The surge in onion prices in Goa has even made it challenging for the city restaurateur to include it as part of their servings and many have completely removed the vegetable from the dishes being served at their outlet. Even as part of the salad, many have replaced onion with cabbage and carrot.

"Onion price in Goa has crossed Rs 160 mark. Earlier, the prices used to surge for 7-8 days and dive down but now every day the prices go up by at least Rs 20. Keeping that in mind, we have removed onions from our menu and replaced them with cabbage and carrot," Ganesh, a restaurateur, was quoted as saying by ANI.

"We get into an argument with customers daily. But what can we do? We ignore them, there is no other solution," he added. Echoing similar sentiments, a tourist from Maharashtra's Kohlapur rued that he prefers onions with spicy food but he is not getting it in Goa. Other restaurant owners in the region also said that they have reduced the quantity of onion they serve to their customers.

The problem was even highlighted by Goa Rural Development Minister Michael Lobo when he said that tourism woes are arising due to rising onion prices. "When tourists ask for onions while eating lunch, they are given cabbage instead," he said.

Onion being stolen like jewellery

Amid the rising price of onions in the country, several cases are now being reported of people stealing, and even robbing onions in various quantities. An unidentified person in Puducherry stole a couple of 100 kg bags of onions from a wholesale shop on Saturday. According to the owner of the shop, Velmurugan, the person had arrived on a motorcycle and stole the bags of onions, when they were being loaded off the cargo truck.

Later in the day, the person was nabbed by the locals at his residence and the bags of onions were recovered from his home. The two-wheeler used to steal the onion bags was also there. According to ANI, Velmurugan is yet to file a complaint against the person. He stated that the theft had happened due to the rising prices of onions.

1973 :: Shopkeeper Selling Vegetables , Onions are Selling at Very Affordable Rates, Customer Is Smiling, No Tears Due to Onion Price pic.twitter.com/rr9ABHbKKv

¡ª indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) November 6, 2019

After cases of theft of onions were reported recently, farmers in several parts of the country, including Bihar, UP and Madhya Pradesh have reportedly taken to guarding their crops by patrolling their fields night and day.

Criminal case against Food Minister

A criminal complaint case has also been filed against union minister Ram Vilas Paswan in Muzaffarpur Civil Court on Saturday for "misleading and cheating" people on the rise in the price of onions. The case was filed by a person named M Raju Nayyar, who claims to be a social worker, in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Surya Kant Tiwary who posted the matter for hearing on December 12.

Nayyar, a resident of Muzaffarpur town, in his complaint said that Paswan has failed to check onion prices despite being the union minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution.

He further said that Paswan has misled people through his statement that price of the vegetable has gone up due to its black marketing. According to PTI, the case was filed under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 379 (punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code.

Farmers, common man continues to suffer

The ongoing saga of onion price hike has double implications on the society at large. It is crippling two pertinent sections of the Indian population that is already facing the brunt of agrarian distress and economic slowdown.

Farmers, the neglected lot, are not making any profit even in the face of huge amounts being coughed up by the buyers and consumers. On the other hand, the middle class of the country and the working population is already thrust under the pressure of economic slowdown and, therefore, the rising onion prices are further crippling them.

Notably, the agrarian distress is so stark currently that according to the last-released figures at least 11,300 farmers committed suicide in 2016 alone. On the other hand, the economic slowdown has reportedly resulted in over 3,50,000 job losses at least and more hang in balance.

Therefore even as there may seem a great deal of profit to be made in the onion business right now, one thing that¡¯s disturbing is the plight of the farmers as all their hard work is being exploited by middlemen and hoarders.

It is binding upon the government to act earnestly. Controlling prices so that they do not impact the life of the common man is among the prime duties of governments. In India, it seems further from the case and the prolonged delay in controlling onion price will worsen the state of the economy in the days to come while also crippling most sections of the society.