Three hundred outlets of Mother Dairy, 20 outlets of Kendriya Bhandar, 15 NCCF owned outlets and a number of mobile vans. NCCF Chairman Virendra Singh has wiped the tears of onion of citizen of Delhi through such a modest means.
Talking to Indian Cooperative.com Mr Singh said that the Minister has instructed us to sell onion at Rs 23 a kg but we may lower it down further from Friday onwards.
Working at feverish pitch for the past months, NCCF has proved that it is more than a match to beleaguered NAFED and government can count on it in moments of need. Packaging onion from the Nasik Mandi, getting it transported to Delhi, selling it in retail with its own distribution system –the job of consumer cooperative has not been mean.
NCCF refused to import onion unlike NAFED citing lack of storage facilities. But insiders say that it is the low quality of foreign product which discouraged NCCF to bite the bait.
When onion crisis hit the nation, government planned market intervention. It selected cooperatives like NAFED and NCCF to the forefront of crisis management. Indian cooperatives have proved once again that when worst comes to worst, nation can count on cooperatives.
Ironically, Sharad Pawar had to cut some of his ministerial assignments partly on account of his hopeless statement on rising prices of onion.
Historically also, onion has played crucial political jokes on Parties which prompted Atal Bihari Bajpai to say once “ Indian democracy was sold at the rate of onion”( Bhartiya prajatantra pyaj ke bhao bik gayi) “ Indian democracy was sold at the rate of onion” .Thankfully, cooperatives have weathered the storm rather heroically.
