Kalpetta: The government’s initiative to sell onions at ₹35 a kg received an enthusiastic response at the Wayanad District Collectorate on Wednesday, with a large number of employees and residents queuing up to purchase the subsidised onions.
The sale was launched as part of a joint market intervention by the Agriculture and Civil Supplies departments in association with Horticorp to provide relief to consumers amid a sharp increase in onion prices.
A large number of employees, particularly women staff, made a beeline for the Horticorp mobile outlet, popularly described as the ‘Ulli Vandi’, to buy onions at ₹35 a kg. The subsidised price came as a major relief to consumers who had been paying up to around ₹65.75 a kg in the open market.
The rush was particularly visible at the Collectorate premises, where the mobile outlet attracted a sizable crowd soon after the programme began.
District Panchayat vice-president T Hamsa inaugurated the sale and flagged off two Horticorp mobile vehicles from the Collectorate premises at around 11 am. The two vehicles will travel to different parts of the district to make the subsidised onions available to consumers.
In the first phase, two tonnes of onions procured through the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) are being distributed in Wayanad. The mobile units will operate in different parts of the district from 10 am to 7 pm.
The intervention is part of the state government’s decision to procure 100 tonnes of onions through the NCCF and sell them at ₹35 per kg through Horticorp and Supplyco outlets across Kerala.
Of the first 30 tonnes ordered by the state, 20 tonnes had already reached Kerala, with 10 tonnes earmarked for the Malabar region and the remaining 10 tonnes for southern Kerala. Another 30 tonnes are expected to reach the state on Thursday, according to the Civil Supplies Department.
The government has said that additional quantities will be brought into the state depending on market requirements. Horticorp and Supplyco are jointly coordinating the distribution as part of the market intervention.
The sharp increase in onion prices had prompted the state government to intervene after prices in markets rose substantially. Agriculture Minister T. Siddique had earlier said that the government would take necessary measures to ensure adequate availability of onions and prevent abnormal price increases.
Additional District Magistrate K Ajeesh, Horticorp district manager AR Chithra, Agriculture Department deputy director PK Lalsuna, Horticorp assistant manager Sibi Chacko and other Horticorp officials and employees participated in the programme.
