Bhubaneswar: Taking cognizance of the sudden rise in onion prices, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department in its letter to all collectors warned that the rise in onion price will lure traders to resort to high profiteering which will further lead to public discontentment and asked them to take steps to curb such practice.
Therefore, as an ameliorative measure, the department has asked collectors to ensure availability of the essential commodity to consumers by holding meetings with onion traders and tracking the source price, wholesale price and retail price.
Regular inspection of wholesale and retail business units along with stern action against the unscrupulous traders must be initiated to maintain the price level of onion, the letter read.
"We have written to the district collectors to check the amount of stock available so that traders should not resort to hoarding. We are also trying to convince traders to sell onion at retail price to keep the prices under control," said secretary of Food Supplies department Pradipta Mohapatra.
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Earlier, Food Supplies Minister Surya Narayan Patro had said due to heavy rains in Nasik and Bangalore, the prices of onion have increased and once the rain subsides, price will automatically decline.