First tomato, now onion prices spiral

The last thing the Central government has in mind seems to be the woes of the common man.

The price of onions, considered an essential part of every Indian’s food, has shot up again, doubling and in some cases tripling making it virtually impossible for the aam admi to dream of having too much of it in his daily meal.

Caught in the poll frenzy of winning the five states set to vote in new assemblies in a couple of weeks from now, not many in the government seem to have devoted enough time to curtailing onion prices with this now becoming a yearly phenomenon.

The delay in the on- ion crop and a shortfall in growing regions in Maharashtra and Karnataka are being cited as reasons for the prices spiraling out of control but then this is something known to everyone.

Preemptive measures should have been in place including onion imports and steps to ramp up production anticipating a shortage but such thoughts do not seem to have bothered those in power leaving the middle classes and the poor at the mercy of the vagaries of the market.

The Centre has of course acted and imposed a floor price on onion exports to ensure domestic availability from October 29 to December 31.

This step is expected to dissuade onion exporters from exploiting the price fluctuations but will it suffice to keep the prices from crossing intolerable levels?

Earlier this year, tomato prices had gone through the roof and stayed at unusually high levels for months before the crop coming in led to a stabilization on the price front.

Hotels had jacked up prices while some preferred the easy way out by dropping tomatoes from their curries or by minimizing the content. All that customers and consumers could do was suffer in silence.

One finds it hard to imagine a situation where onion slices too disappear from common food items leaving a bad taste in our mouths.

But one cannot stop mulling over why the government cannot anticipate such a shortage and ensure enough availability of an essential produce for which it has several means at hand?

Can’t scarcities of extremely essential commodities like onions, tomatoes and potatoes be avoided and all the distress that the vulnerable sections are subjected to, be put to an end?

Such contingency measures are absolutely necessary in a developing country like ours where a good proportion of the population depends on agriculture for their means of livelihood.

A bad harvest or scanty rainfall are enough to push their plans into jeopardy and drive many farmers to suicide. A safety net is what every farmer who feeds the nation needs.

And a buffer against price rise is what every consumer looks forward to as he struggles to make both ends meet amid rising prices. The government has enough agricultural experts to warn it about an expected short- age and the measures which have to be put in place to counter it.

And if such monitoring and warning systems are not being operated prop- erly putting the entire nation at the mercy of price fluctuations, it is something which should indeed be a matter of serious concern.

What is indeed baffling is that this price rise is happening at a time when five states are set to go to polls in days from now and the nation is gearing up to vote in a new Parliament in six months.

These are times when governments are expected to be extremely sensitive to anything which adds to economic woes but sadly, there is nothing of that kind in sight.