Скачать или смотреть INDIA: SOARING PRICE OF ONIONS CAUSING CONCERN

(11 Oct 1998) Voice and effects

An unprecedented rise in onion prices is wreaking havoc in the Indian capital New Delhi.
A 500 per cent rise in the price of the most favoured staple vegetable of Indian kitchens, has brought people onto the streets in search of the scarce commodity.

The government has ordered imports of 13-thousand tonnes of onions to ease the shortage caused by floods and cyclones in India's onion growing region.

But the issue could provoke a backlash amongst voters in next month's local elections in four Indian states, including Delhi.

The onion can be political dynamite in India.

The government's providing New Delhi with 13,000 tons of imported onions at subsidised prices after shortages pushed home-grown costs up by 500 percent.

Local elections are due next month -- a federal government once fell after high onion prices became the major economic issue.

SOUNDBITE (English)
"The onion has a very multifarious role. And somehow people miss its presence a great deal. And since it is used in almost all the preparations made these days in Indian homes, not being able to afford it becomes rather an emotive issue."
SUPER CAPTION: Rahul Dev, Analyst

That's evident in the crowds seeking their share of India's favourite vegetable:

SOUNDBITE (Hindi)
"I've left my office," he says, "and I'm losing money. But what to do? You need onions for everything."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop

Hardest-hit by the soaring prices are New Delhi's poor. Bread and raw onions are a typical meal for many of them. Their diet is suffering.

Also hurting are the markets selling the expensive Indian onions that survived the cyclones and flooding.

Like those onions, customers are scarce.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...