Not Just Onions, Pulses And Rice Price Too Have Burnt A Hole In Aam AadmiĄ¯s Pocket

Onion prices have been making Indians cry for over a month now. After March, prices have increased by over 400 per cent, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan in Lok Sabha told Lok Sabha in reply to a question.

The average the retail price of onion on December 3, 2019, was recorded to be Rs 81.9 per kilogram in comparison to Rs 15.87 per kilogram in March 2019.

Not just onion, prices of other commodities have risen in the past burning a hole in the pocket of aam aadmi.

Retail prices of 20 out of the 22 essential food items, tracked by the government monitor, increased continuously during the current calendar year with onions registering a four-fold spike between January and December, the consumer affairs ministry told Lok Sabha.

bccl

The ministry has submitted the monthly average prices of essential food items, which shows how there has been a significant increase in the prices of three major pulses arhar, urad and moong while gram prices have largely remained stable.

Ą°Food items are inter-alia affected by a mismatch in demand and supply, the shortfall in production owing to adverse weather conditions and seasonality, increased transportation costs, supply chain constraints like lack of storage facilities, artificial shortage created by hoarding and black marketing.

Paswan told the Lower House while responding to a question from Rahul Ramesh Shewale and Bhartruhari Mahtab on the reasons behind this trend.

PaswanĄ¯s ministry is responsible for monitoring the prices of essential food items to get a sense of things ahead and alert the government to prepare for the situation.

bccl

While onion prices have breached Rs 200 per kg in some parts of the country, the average monthly price during November and December have increased to Rs 81 per kg as compared to merely Rs 18 in January.

Prices of urad dal has increased to nearly Rs 95 a kg from Rs 72 less than a year back. In the case of arhar and moong, the overall increase has been in the range of 15-20 per cent. Potato prices have increased over 40 per cent and even prices of rice and wheat have increased by 10 per cent despite a bumper harvest of both crops. Rise in prices of essential food items has become a cause of concern for the government which is trying to beat the economic slow-down.

Paswan informed Parliament that at the national consultation meeting (NCM) on September 3, food, civil supplies and consumer affairs ministers of state/ Union Territories were advised to hold meetings to review prices with dealers of essential food items especially pulses and onions on a regular basis.