Kejriwal flags off 70 mobile vans to sell onions at Rs 23.90 per kg

NEW DELHI: In a move to provide relief to the residents of Delhi from the skyrocketing prices of onions, the Arvind Kejriwal government is now providing onions at Rs 23.90 per kilogram through mobile vans and fair price shops. 70 mobile vans and 400 fair price shops have been arranged to sell onions in the city.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged off the mobile vans from the Delhi secretariat gate on Saturday. Besides the vans, onions are also being sold at 400 fair price shops. Kejriwal said that after first five days, the procurement of the onion stock will be reviewed as per the requirement

The Delhi government had announced on Friday that the onions in the city will be sold at Rs 23.90 per kg through mobile vans and at ration shops from Saturday. Kejriwal said onion prices are as high as Rs 60-80 per kg in retail market across the country.

"The Delhi government will provide onions at Rs 23.90 per kg in all 70 Vidhan Sabhas through 70 mobile vans and at 400 Ration shops," he said.

A person can buy up to five kgs of onion.

"This rate is for next five days," Kejriwal said adding there will be strict action against hoarding and black marketing.

The government has made arrangements for 1 lakh kg of onions, he said.

"We will decide on the further requisition based on the sale and consumption in the first five days. We will continue with this move till the prices of onions stabilise," the CM said.

"The onion sale points will operate between 10 am and 5 pm and no ID will be required to purchase from these points. I hope that the people will be honest and will purchase onions only for domestic use," said Chief Minister.

Kejriwal said that 70 mobile vans have been launched and 400 fair price shops have been selected to sell onions as per the requirement. In this way, onions will be made available at around five shops in one assembly. Based on the demand of onions per constituency, the government will comprehend the requirement of positioning more fair price shops and mobile vans in the city.

Onions are currently available at Rs 60-80 per kg in the retail market in Delhi. The wholesale price of onion at Azadpur Mandi in Delhi has gone up to Rs 60 per kg, the highest since 2015. On the other hand, Asia's largest onion market in Lasalgaon in Maharashtra is also selling the onions at Rs 50 per kg. The traders said that the stock of onions in the country is very low due to which supply of onions to the mandis is coming down. The price of onion is rising due to lower inflows than consumption.

Meanwhile, the BJP on Saturday hit out at the AAP government, saying it wanted to "earn profit" by selling onions at Rs 23.90/kg after buying it from the Centre at Rs 15.90. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said, "The Centre is giving onion to Delhi government at the rate of Rs 15.90 per kg so that people in the city do not face the pinch of soaring onion prices. However, Delhi government has announced to sell onions at the rate Rs 23.90 per kg which means it is trying to earn profit from it."