The fight over the skyrocketing prices of onions, between the Delhi government and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), has reached Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s doorstep.

Ashok Thakur, the central government’s nominee for the NAFED director’s post, has sought time to discuss the issue with Jung.

In his letter to the L-G, Thakur has said that he wants to discuss the “insensitivity of government of NCT of Delhi towards price inflation to various commodities, especially onion”.

“ We seek your immediate intervention in terms of buying/accommodating the large stock of onion in the same pattern as has been practiced in the yesteryear, including the year 2014,” he added.

Thakur claimed that in the meeting, he wanted to discuss ways to overcome the immediate threat of wastage of a large stock of onions, preserved in NAFED godowns to meet the quota for the capital.

He also wanted to update the L-G about the consequences of further delay in the procurement of onions, which would lead to higher prices, said Thakur.

When contacted, Thakur alleged that the Delhi government had procured onions at a higher rate. “Is the government trying to sell onions at profit? The public wants to know,” he said.

After the Delhi government recently announced its intention to sell onions at Rs 40 per kg at mobile locations across the city, till the prices of the vegetable stabilised in the open market, NAFED had blamed the government for the increasing prices.

The federation had claimed that had the Delhi government responded to the three letters sent to it on the issue earlier, prices of the essential vegetable would have remained under control.

The AAP government had hit back by claiming that “a political nominee”, an apparent reference to Thakur, was making “misleading” statements on the issue.

The government had alleged that NAFED — which had asked the Delhi government, in a letter sent on July 24, to make an advance payment in case it wanted to buy onions — refused to take responsibility for the poor quality of onions or losses incurred in storage.

It also claimed that it had procured good-quality onions from Nasik through the Small Farmers Agri Business Consortium.

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