Indian Government In Panic As Onion Price Hits Rs 100 kg

NEW DELHI – With onionprices continuing to be on firein the run-up to crucial statepolls, an embattled governmentscrambled to stem the surgebut appeared to lack a coherentplan.As onion prices, defying thesharp dip in the rates in thecountry’s biggest wholesalemarket at Lasalgaon in Nashik,continued to spiral and touchedthe Rs 100 per kg mark in thecity and elsewhere, panic in thegovernment was obvious. Foodminister K V Thomas rushedto Maharashtra as theCongress-ruled state accountsfor 28% of the total onion productionand can help tameprices by cracking down onhoarders.Commerce minister AnandSharma blamed hoarders forthe spike in onion prices whichpolitical rivals have painted asthe UPA government’s failure,and worse, insensitivity towardsthe poor.The Congress government inDelhi, which rode the onionanger to power in 1998, wasmore precise as it shifted theblame on hoarders in BJP-ruledMadhya Pradesh. Civil suppliesminister Haroon Yusuf allegedthat hoarders were keepingsupplies from reaching Delhi tosabotage Congress’s prospectsin the assembly elections.But beyond the anger, the centralgovernment did not seemto have any plan to deal withthe crisis. Banning exports wasconsidered only to be discardedafter it was recognized thatwith domestic prices rulinghigh, few would have the incentiveto sell abroad. “Banningexports may sound politicallyright but it will not be a gooddecision economically,”Thomas told TOI.