Anantapur: Onion fiasco brings memories of demonetisation during Modi's first term

Anantapur: For the citizens of the district, their memory goes back to dark days of demonetisation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi government then. The onions fiasco being a nation wide problem, the general public are blaming the central government for the onions problem, while the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government is being blamed for the sand fiasco.

Onions and sand are the two demons haunting the AP, say Krishna Kumar, cashier in a nationalised bank in the city. Women are finding it difficult to go without onions. Some are so obsessed with onions that they are willing to forego their morning milk purchased for making tea rather than giving up onions.

The entire city has just one Rythu Bazzar selling onions only in one counter. Senior citizens and women are flaying the district administration for not opening some more counters to ease congestion of 2-3 km long queues of men, women and children and senior citizens. People are coming as early as 6 am and waiting for 2-3 hours for their turn to take their onion ration of just one kg.

A government school teacher Ram Murthy Naidu speaking to The Hans India recollects the days when they had to stand in long ques at the ATMs just to draw Rs.4,000 for the day. Onions and sand fiasco reflects on the poor abilities of the governments to deliver goods, he says.

Rajini Naidu who was seen to be standing in que for over 2 hours asks whether the government cannot do the simple job of opening separate que for women and another for senior citizens.

Rajeshwari standing in que at the Rythu Baazar says her husband asked her not to come home without onions as he was unable to consume food sans onions, she laments.

Marketing Assistant Director Narayana Murthy at Rythu Baazar told The Hans India that new stocks of 22 tonnes of onions are arriving on Tuesday night. They stated that they could not open more counters because there is no staff to man new counters.

They stated that this problem is likely to persist until the new onion crop is harvested. Narayana Murthy revealed that from tomorrow onions will be sold in all the market yards in the district. Only 1 kg of onions per person will be supplied, he added.