Bhopal: The government has been taken aback by the huge inflow of onions at the purchase centres set up by it. Procurement of onions is on in 22 districts and so far, around five lakh quintals of onions have been purchased. With monsoon round the corner and lack of storage capacity, the government wants to dispose of the stocks as early as possible.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on Tuesday cleared a proposal to sell the procured onions outside the state. At present the MARKFED is procuring the onions and the state civil supplies corporation is selling the product through PDS shops at the rate of Rs 2 per kg. The government has decided that if it gets a higher price than this, it would sell the stocks to anyone who is willing to pay a higher price for it.
Initially, it was decided that only such stocks should be purchased that can be stored for 15 days. But now, looking at the resentment among the farmers, this condition has been relaxed. But that means that the stocks cannot be stored and will have to be transported before they start getting spoiled.
To ensure that the onions stocks are not recycled, the government has decided to ensure that the stocks are transported right from the procurement centres. The National Agriculture Co-operative Marketing Federation will sell the procured onions in Delhi.
To prevent recycling, the procured onions are being transported to the 29 districts where procurement is not being one. Last year, the government had bought 10.30 lakh quintals of onion. This year, the quantity may go up by up to four times.
Won’t mind crores going down the drain: Bisen
When asked about the possible loss to government in the procurement of onions, the agriculture minister Gaurishankar Bisen said that the government was ready to sustain the loss of a couple of crores for the sake of the farmers. He said that last year, the government had sustained a loss of Rs 103 crore. Even it goes up to Rs 200 crore it doesn’t matter. He said that the government was buying onions in huge quantities but does not have the capacity to store it. He said that the government’s first priority is to help the farmers by buying their unsold stocks.
