First consignment of onions procured by government's cooperative reaches city

NEW DELHI: The first consignment of onions procured by government cooperative, NAFED from Maharashtra to fulfill the requirements of Delhiites has reached the city today.
These onions will now be sold through 380 Safal outlets in the city, Commissioner in Food and Supplies Department S S Yadav said.

In order to keep onion prices in check, Delhi's Lt Governor Najeeb Jung had last week instructed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) to purchase onions on behalf of Delhi government to build stocks.

Jung had also directed Safal to double the sale of onion and potatoes from 60 MT per day to 120 MT per day.

"Delhi Government has provided necessary funds to NAFED for the procurement of onions and a team of officers from Safal and Delhi Government is in Nasik, Maharashtra to oversee the procurement and to ensure that good quality onions are procured," Yadav said.

Based on the requirement, onions will be procured daily from Maharashtra and will be despatched to the city to ensure uninterrupted supply, he said.

He said that the prices of onion and potatoes are now stable.

Onions were being sold at Safal outlets at Rs 20.90 per Kg today while potatoes are being sold at Rs 24.50 per Kg.

Meanwhile, LG has directed the Food and Supply Department and Department of Agriculture to keep a very close watch on the prices of onions and potatoes.

He also directed that the raids and enforcement action against the hoarders and black marketers of these essential commodities should continue.

Development Commissioner Puneet Goel said that following LG's directions, the traders of the three mandis in Delhi --(APMC) Azadpur, Keshopur and Shahdara (Gazipur) have started selling onions and potatoes at subsidized prices through 30 mobile vans in different parts of the city from June 20.

Delhi Government has also decided to allow farmers to sell fruits and vegetables directly to consumers. The Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board (DAMB) has brought out an amendment in the agricultural produce market committee (APMC) Act seeking to end the regulation of marketing of fruits and vegetables in three mandis- Azadpur, Keshopur and Shahdara.

Suggestions and objections from public has been sought within 45 days before issuing gazette notification. There are 68 items of vegetables and 50 of fruits in the list that would be denotified from mandis.