Regulate onion prices, N Chandrababu Naidu tells officials

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials to take measures to regulate price of onions and provide subsidy, if necessary in Rythu Bazars. He instructed the officials to ensure that onions are available at all Rythu Bazaars. Mr Naidu, on Saturday, interacted with the agriculture, civil supplies and marketing department officials and Rythu Bazaar CEOs in a teleconference.

If the onions are illegally stored, and if artificial demand has been created, officials of the marketing and civil supplies departments  should do the needful,  said the chief minister. He directed the officials to take steps to ensure availability of the crop where shortage of onions and high prices were reported through 1100 toll-free number across the state. Mr Naidu directed the officials to pool onions from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh if needed. He even suggested the officials to monitor the Rythu Bazaars every two hours and know the status of availability of onions across the state.