Maharashtra’s Onion Price Drop Sparks Big Face-Off In Assembly

Nationalist Congress Party MLAs wearing garland of onions staged a protest at the Maharashtra assembly this morning as the wholesale prices of the key kitchen staple witnessed a steep fall yesterday.

The MLAs reached the assembly with baskets full of onions on their heads a day after the farmers stopped the auction at Asia’s biggest onion market in Nashik district due to the falling prices.

Meanwhile, the Congress targeted the state government citing the loss incurred by an onion farmer.

“A farmer sold 825 kg onions at a mandi in Maharashtra. The cost of transporting the onion: Rs 826. He earned: Rs 825. Rs 826-Rs 825= Re 1. Leave aside the profit, the farmer had pay Re 1 from his own pocket. The promise was to double their income, but this is what the reality is,” the Congress tweeted.

The farmers’ protest at Lasalgaon mandi in Nashik was called off in the evening following an assurance by a state minister.

The wholesale prices of onions, which had been on a constant decline in the state, fell from Rs 4 to Rs 2 per kg yesterday, angering the farmers.

The onion growers have demanded an immediate grant of Rs 1,500 per quintal of onions and that the government buy their produce at Rs 15-20 per kg. Else, they would not let the auction resume at the mandi, said a representative.

But the onions fetched a minimum price of Rs 200 per quintal (Rs 2/kg) as soon as the auction opened for the week yesterday. The maximum was Rs 800 per quintal with the average being around Rs 400-450 per quintal.

Angered by this, the farmers stopped the auction and staged a protest.

“During the ongoing (Maharashtra) Budget session, the government should declare Rs 1,500 per quintal grant for onions and buy them for Rs 15-20,” said a leader of an onion growers’ union, Bharat Dighole.

Nashik district guard minister Dada Bhuse assured the farmers that a meeting in this regard will be held with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis soon.

The protest was then called off and regular auctions began this morning, officials said.