CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu govt will sell onions at Rs 35 per kg through 8,739 ration shops in urban areas from Sept 3 to check soaring prices, food minister Venkataramanan said in the assembly on Monday.The scheme will cover around 80 lakh family cardholders in the first phase, with each family entitled to one kg of onions. The govt has procured 1,000 tonne through NAFED and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation.Onions are currently selling for Rs 56-Rs 60 per kg in the open market due to higher transport costs, adverse weather and reduced arrivals from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the minister said.The subsidised onions would also be sold through cooperative wholesale outlets, primary cooperative marketing societies and Amudham stores in urban areas. The govt would procure additional stocks if needed, he said.Venkataramanan said the govt was closely monitoring prices of essential commodities and had decided to convene the price monitoring committee once every three months. The panel can recommend market intervention through cooperative institutions when required.Taking a swipe at the previous DMK regime, the minister said the price monitoring committee had met only twice in five years under the earlier govt.It may be recalled that the oppositions and TVK’s allies raised the inflation issue through a special call attention motion in the house last week.
