Ahmedabad: In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a cooperative leader in Gujarat has demanded to lift the ban on onion export. In the letter Mahuva Agriculture Produce Market Committee chairman Ghanshyam Patel has questioned that when onion prices are crashing, there was no support system to bail farmers out, then how can the government punish them if price shoots up and consumers feel the pinch of it.
Patel has argued that counting their losses, farmers expect to fetch anywhere between Rs 40 to 45 per kilo. But, even today, the wholesale price is Rs 20 to 25 per kilo in Gujarat.
Whereas in Maharashtra it is Rs 22 to 30 and in Madhya Pradesh Rs 20 to 28. If retail prices have risen, how can farmers be held responsible, and how far is it justified to ban exports? In the farmer's interest, the export ban should be lifted immediately, he demanded.
A day before the state's Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had welcomed the central government decision to ban export, it is the responsibility of the government to protect the interest of consumers. He hoped, once the retail prices stabilised, the government would lift the ban.
