Centre asks states to crack down on traders hoarding onions to curb rising prices

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The Centre has asked the State Governments to crack down on traders hoarding onions, create buffer stocks and distribute imported edible bulb at a reasonable rate in order to provide relief to the common man from soaring prices.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba yesterday chaired a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries to review the issue of rising onion prices across the country.

In a video conference with the Chief Secretaries of 11 major onion producing states, Mr Gauba was briefed about the various steps being taken by them to control onion prices.

He directed the states that the overall availability of onions has to be beefed up, considering the temporary shortage, to stabilize the prices. The Cabinet Secretary also asked the states to utilize their Food and Civil Supply Departments to procure and distribute onions at reasonable prices.

The Centre has already banned onion exports and decided to import 1.2 lakh tonnes of onions, besides imposing stock holding limit on traders.

The Ministry monitors prices of 22 essential commodities based on the data collected from 109 market centres spread across the country.