Onions are cheap, but only for few

There are two counters at the Connaught Place Super Bazaar — one inside the building on the ground floor for members of the Super Bazaar Co-operative, and another behind the complex for general customers.

The queue at the members-only counter around 5 p.m. today was a fraction of that outside the building. But those at the former were clearly the privileged ones.

Their degree of rapport with the man at the counter determined the quantity they could carry home. Some took away more than 4 kg promising to return tomorrow.

Another counter — a small windowless room — is almost hidden away next to the office of the person in-charge of onion sales down the corridor. The reason: the staff have their daily quota stacked up inside.

Laxman Singh Rawat, the onion sales supervisor, and his staff were `busy’ tackling die-hard onion eaters and appeasing acquaintances. “Everyone wants more onion,” said Rawat. “Where do I get more, the government gives us a fixed quota”.

When this reporter started asking for statistics on onion sale and supply, Rawat was initially reluctant. He later opened up, realising that Express Newsline had noted the goings-on in and around his office in the past 30 minutes.

“Seva bataon Sir (What can I do for you)? Will 5 kg be enough. Today things are a little tight, but please come again tomorrow.” He stopped short of pleading that the goings-on at Super Bazaar should not be reported at “such trying times”. The government, incidentally, allocates 12 tonnes of onion per day for sale through Super Bazaar outlets. The quota for the Connaught Place bazaar is about 4 tonnes, while the rest is sold through five other Super Bazaar outlets in the city.

The stocks at all the counters are cleared by evening. But there is, obviously, no data on how much of it has been kept aside by the staff, and how much is old to the public.

In the open market today, onion continued to be sold at Rs 40 per kg. At the INA market vegetable-seller Lala Ram said: “Two days ago, we thought that the prices were finally going down. But rates increased once again today”.

Ram and a fellow vegetable-seller Bunty buy their stocks from Okhla and Azadpur alternately. “Earlier, we could afford to keep a smaller profit margin because we sold more. Now if we buy onion for Rs 35, we sell it for Rs 40. There are very few customers these days”.

Lala Ram used to buy 40 kg every day before the crisis started; today he struggles to clear even 10 kg. Bunty is slightly more fortunate. But both agree that because of the onion crisis, their daily income has decreased by 50 per cent. Even the percentage of vegetable-sellers in the area has fallen by a similar figure, they point out.

The Daryaganj market also showed effects of the fact that only 14 truckloads of onion reached Azadpur today. Since 80 per cent of Daryaganj’s supply comes from Azadpur, retailers bought onion for Rs 40 per kg. They plan to sell their stock for not less than Rs 45 tomorrow.