Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday directed the officials concerned to take stern action against people creating artificial scarcity of essential commodities citing floods and rains.
With onion prices soaring in the state, the Andhra government has begun selling subsidised onions. Jagan tasked the district collectors and superintendents of police to ensure that onions are sold only at Rs 40 per kg set by the government.
"The district collectors and SPs have been asked to ensure that all shops display the price list prominently. As per the instructions of the CM, onions were purchased through Nafed and they are being sold at the Rythu Bazaars for Rs 40 per kilogram," said Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kanna Babu.
Prices of vegetables in the state, namely onions, have crossed Rs 100 at Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam, Kakinada, Tirupati and Kurnool areas. Officials from the Agricultural Marketing Department will begin selling subsidised onions at Rythu Bazaars of cities from Saturday. The subsidised sales will be extended to towns and villages in a phased manner, reported The New Indian Express. On Friday, Krishna district received 20 metric tonnes of onions from Pune, another 20 metric tonnes reached Tadapalligudem.
Flood relief
The Agriculture Minister said the CM is reviewing the flood situation regularly and all steps are being taken to provide relief to the flood-hit people.
"Every affected family is being provided with food, medicines and essential commodities. All the ministers, officials and YSRCP MLAs are touring the affected areas for the past 20 days and providing relief to the affected people," he pointed out.
Highlighting that Jagan is monitoring the situation on a daily basis, Babu took a dig at opposition leaders Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Nara Lokesh.
"There is no sense in what Naidu and his son Lokesh are saying from their hideout in Hyderabad for the past eight months. It is ridiculous that Lokesh is making irresponsible comments," Babu said.
He advised Lokesh to know the difference between heavy rains and floods before talking.
(With IANS inputs)