Excessive rainfall is endemic to Maharashtra but this year the
rainfall was at a disproportionate level due to which farmers could not harvest
their crops in time, culminating into a serious shortage of onions. The onion
prices surged up to three times the normal rate. In daily life, the common man
is more likely to be influenced by onion prices rather than superior economic
issues.
These onion prices
are adversely affecting middle class family budgets and small restaurants. Onion prices rose to 200 rupees per
kilogram over the past month in few metropolitan cities. This was the
consequence after obstreperous rains caused crops to fail. Few vendors
are selling onions substantially and making fine surpluses, while others are unable
to buy onions to sell in markets. A farmer in Maharashtra said that floods wrecked
his entire onion inventory. In addition to the loss of public property and large-scale
protests against the Citizen Amendment Act, which isolated India’s 200 million
Muslims, this onion catastrophe is also snowballing pressure on the government.
Selling onions at subsidized price in some states,
restricting exports etc. are some of the practices espoused by the government
to deal with the problem of onion rate hike. Moreover, the government has
decided to import onions from Turkey and Egypt to control the growing price
rate paradigm but a respite is expected as these shipments won't arrive before January.
People are also livid at the reaction of Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance
Minister of India, as she said that she doesn't eat much onion and garlic, which
mirrors the paucity of readiness in taking a decision and government’s
insouciance on the onion price hike issue. Miss Shalini Mehta, a teacher, expressed her woes as she said
"This tells us how the government thinks about the very basic problems
faced by the common people. They don't care."
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