The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s claim that it purchases onions at Rs 40 a kg and sells these to you at Rs 30 a kg has turned out to be a farce.

The AAP government, which came to power on the promise of eradicating corruption, has procured onions at a much cheaper price of Rs 18 a kg and sold these to Delhiites at Rs 30 a kg, according to RTI replies.

The move, the RTI replies state, is in stark contrast to the Cabinet decision that the government will sell onions at a no-profit-no-loss basis in the Capital.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (Nafed) has alleged that there is a huge difference between the procurement cost and the price at which the AAP government sold onions to Delhiites.

The Delhi government, however, ruled out any financial bungling on its part.

“If there is any irregularity, it is on part of the central government agencies Small Farmer Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) and Nafed. The actual procurement cost is Rs 32.86 per kg.

"Owing to transportation and labour expenses, it shot up to Rs 40 per kg. The AAP government then decided to subsidise the onion price by another Rs 10 per kg and decided to sell them at Rs 30 per kg,” Delhi’s Food and Supplies Minister Asim Ahmed Khan told Mail Today.

He alleged that Nafed was politicising the issue even when it supplied onions at high prices to Mother Dairy and Safal.

RTI replies provided by the Delhi government’s Department of Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs, however, present a different picture.

The RTI documents accessed by Mail Today revealed that the government had purchased 2,511 metric tonnes (25,11,000 kgs) of onions through SFAC at an average price of Rs 18.57 per kg, which also includes cess and other local expenses.

The purchases were made from various markets of Nashik in Maharashtra and Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

However, when the onion crisis aggravated in the Capital, the government on August 5 decided to sell onions at a no-profit-no-loss basis through its vans.

The government had also declared that Rs 32.86 per kg as the procurement cost and Rs 7 per kg as the amount of additional surcharge, transportation cost and other local expenses.

The Delhi Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal then decided to subsidise the price by Rs 10 per kg and sold onions at Rs 30 per kg.

The RTI documents also revealed that the government failed to supply adequate quantity of onions despite having a buffer stock of 5,000 metric tonnes.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (Nafed) has alleged that there is a huge difference between the procurement cost and the price at which the AAP government sold onions to Delhiites

This, according to Nafed, essentially kept the onion prices high even though the government had abundant stock of the multi-layered vegetable.

According to RTI replies, the Kejriwal government began the sale of onions on August 10.

However, it could only sell 575.32 metric tonnes of onions till September 2. This means that more than 4,400 metric tonnes of onions remained stashed in godowns while Delhiites were reeling under surging prices of the vegetable.

The price of onion skyrocketed to Rs 80 a kg in August and despite the government’s assurances the price never came down below Rs 60-per-kg mark.

“There is a huge profit margin in the onion sale. The Delhi government did not supply adequate quantity of onions to the market. Had it had done that the prices could have come down. The AAP government must reveal where the profit margin has gone,” said Ashok Thakur, director, Nafed.

He pointed out that the Delhi government had earlier refused to purchase onions even though Nafed wrote to it repeatedly.

This, he said, led to hoarding of onions and prices went excessively high. The BJP said it is the first major scam in the seven-month-rule of AAP in Delhi.

Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta sought a thorough probe into the matter. He said it is a clear case of financial bungling.

“The AAP government has not only resorted to financial irregularity, but also misled the people of Delhi by promising subsidy on onion prices. It is a shameful act.

"The government sought to befool the public by earning profit by selling onions. Where has the money gone? It needs to be investigated,” Gupta said.

The Kejriwal government ignored repeated alerts by Nafed to stock sufficient quantity of pulses and other eatables so as to meet the requirement in case of short supply

Kejriwal government ignored alerts to stock pulses

By Rakesk Ranjan

Blame it on the AAP government in Delhi for unabated rise in price of pulses and other essential commodities.

The Kejriwal government ignored repeated alerts by Nafed to stock sufficient quantity of pulses and other eatables so as to meet the requirement in case of short supply.

And all this happened at a time the Delhi government faced criticism for not procuring onions that resulted in cost escalation.

An RTI reply by the food and supplies department of Delhi government said it has not purchased pulses or any other grain and eatable products.

The Nafed, which is a Central Government agency, wrote four letters to Delhi government from April to June but the government chose to ignore them.

“Nafed offered arhar dal at Rs 54 per kg and chana dal at Rs 38 per kg. Despite four requests, the AAP government did not buzz.

"As a result Delhiites are forced to buy arhar dal at Rs 150 per kg and chana dal at Rs 70 to Rs 80 a kilo,” said Nafed Director Ashok Thakur.

The letters, copies of which are in possession of Mail Today, were written on April 8, May 1, June 5 and June 30. However, there was no reply from the Delhi government.

“Your department (food and supplies) had initially shown interest in purchase of arhar and chana dal available with Nafed in the states of Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

"The tentative cost of the purchase was also informed to the Delhi government but since then there has been no response. On directions of the Central Government, Nafed has restarted the sale of pulses from June 29,” read one of the letters written to Delhi government.

“Nafed is awaiting response from the Delhi government for purchase of pulses and other whole grains. Considering the present situation of pulses in the country, the Delhi government may assess its requirement as convey it to Nafed for purchase of commodities,” said another letter dated June 5.

Thakur alleged that non-procurement of commodities by the government resulted in hoarding by traders and black marketers as a result of which price of grains skyrocketed.

“No purchase of pulses has been done by the Delhi government. No other grain and other edible products were purchased by the food and supply department,” the Food and Supplies department said in the RTI reply.

Phoolka quits party posts

By Mail Today Bureau

The embattled Aam Aadmi Party took another hit on Saturday with senior leader H.S. Phoolka announcing his resignation from all party posts.

Phoolka cited his preoccupation with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots trial as the reason for quitting AAP. He was serving as spokesperson and legal counsel of AAP, having appeared for many AAP leaders in lawsuits against them.

Phoolka announced on his Facebook account in a long open letter: “After detailed discussions with (Arvind) Kejriwalji and with his approval, it has been decided collectively that I quit active politics and resign from party posts to entirely devote myself in getting justice for the victims....”

The embattled Aam Aadmi Party took another hit with senior leader H.S. Phoolka (centre) announcing his resignation from all party posts

In a bid to scotch murmurs of a rift with the party leadership over his decision, Phoolka said that he would remain an inherent part of AAP, which he said is standing on the cusp of winning the next Assembly polls in Punjab.

Later talking to reporters in Chandigarh, Phoolka said that he was of the firm belief that every person should espouse a social cause and take it to a logical end.

“I started doing their (riots) cases in 1984 as a young lawyer and am continuing to do these cases till today. It is extremely unfortunate that despite the passage of over three decades, even today we are fighting for the same thing we have been fighting for since 1984, i.e. to bring the real culprits to book..,” he said.

When asked that he could have been projected as the chief ministerial candidate by the AAP in the Assembly elections, Phoolka said that for him posts are not important.

He replied in the negative when asked if he felt sidelined over not being consulted when AAP was organising rallies in various parts of Punjab recently.

Talking about Punjab, he claimed that people are fed up of the Akalis and the Congress alike.

“They have been yearning for an alternative since long. That option has been provided to them in the form of an honest party, AAP.

"During the Lok Sabha elections when AAP reached Punjab, I myself joined the party. Due to the hard work and dedication of all the volunteers of AAP in Punjab, today the party has established itself and is on the top. Now it appears that the victory of AAP in the 2017 elections is inevitable,” he said.