Bhopal: The owners of private warehouses in the state are reluctant to store onions being procured by the government as they are yet to be paid for stocking the same commodity last year. Warehousing Corporation is yet to pay around Rs 27 crore of last year’s dues to the warehouse owners. Reason: The state government has not paid the amount to the Corporation.
Initially, the government had decided that it would not stock the onions being procured this year but would sell them off straightway. However, the inflow of onions at the purchase centres is so huge that there is no way except storing them. If that is not done, the procured onions may rot once monsoon breaks out.
The government is also facing problems in getting rakes for transporting onions from one to another. The State Civil Supplies Corporation has sought eight rakes from the railways for 15 days at a stretch. However, the Railways are not ready to provide more than four and that too not every day. Thousands of quintals of onions are being purchased in Ujjain, Indore and Ratlam everyday and it has become next to impossible for the government to store it safely.
Onions from Maha, Rajasthan may find their way to state
As the government is purchasing onions for Rs 8 per kg, there is an apprehension that growers from neighbouring Rajasthan and Maharashtra may also try to sell their produce in the state. Trucks entering the state are being checked at the borders to obviate this possibility. The farmers bringing their produce for sale are being asked to show their land ownership documents too. But still, the possibility of onions from other states finding their way to the state cannot be entirely ruled out.