Education Loan...!! House Loan..!! Car Loan..!! Personal Loan..!! Relaxxxx..!! I am not reminding you the ways, how a bank can make you dependent on them. Its just that there's one more loan that's about to launch very soon by Indian Banks or Government of India (GOI) for that sake. That's "ONION LOAN" (Loan to purchase Onions for the household) Sounds Stupid..?? Trust me, its better to sound stupid than to even think of purchasing onion these days.
Recently, as a part of daily schedule I visited a grocery shop to purchase some onion for daily meals. All I could manage after witnessing the prices was, a smile to the vendor & telling my onion fan room mate, "Oye Doctor ne nahi kaha hai daily pyaaz khaaney ko.. Chal yahaan se..!!!" Well that was about the sarcasm, but in reality too, it seems in the coming few weeks Onion would become a luxury to enjoy. With Onion prices sky-rocketing to as much as Rs. 85 / Kg in some retail markets, the middle class and the lower middle class people can now "wish" if they could afford onion.
What's the reason for these soaring prices of onion, suddenly? Indian Government always have their favorite culprit for all such reasons and quite inevitably its "The Indian Climate". Yes, As per GOI, The rise in the prices of onion is due to bad weather. Is it really true? I recently had a discussion with one of my acquaintances, who is in to outsourcing of cultivation lands for onions. He clearly told, "its all simple business." He told me that he has tonnes of onion supplies at his disposal ready for the sale. But, he is cutting the supply to make sure that the prices rise. "Ek baar daam chadh gaye, to double rates pe nikaal doonga dost aur double munaafa hoga," were his words to be precise. So, do we still feel that these price rises are due to foul weather effects? Or is it the part of a planned strategy by a few hoarders, black marketers or opportunistic persons to exploit the conditions, to earn more? The point of discussion here is not who and why are they doing this.. The point to be worried here is, they can't do so without the aid of certain government officials. So, who is reaping the benefits and who is paying extra cost out of their pockets, folks?? Do I even need to mention..?
"The Customs Duty on onions has been brought down to zero," finance secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters this morning. "Oh, Thank You so much for your benevolent gesture Mr. Politician," I couldn't stop myself from uttering this, the moment I heard this crap from another crap. Immediately, "Supply & Demand Theory" of my Economics classes ran through my memory. Create deficit in supply, increase the demand, raise the prices, reap more profits. Anyways, moving ahead from theory part, practically speaking, very soon for people aiming to have some onion as a part of their staple food diet, RBI will have to introduce "Onion Loans." There too, Reserved category sections could avail the magic of real onion taste in a better way, because of relaxations as we already have in all kind of loans. Rest all can see it, smell it, preserve it as an antique or proudly put it in on a display as a Luxury item. Right?
Meanwhile, Government apparently in an effort to curb the prices, has imposed a ban on onion exports till January 15th, 2011. "Onion prices will remain high for the next 2-3 weeks & the situation is likely to improve only after that," F&A Minister Sharad Pawar had quoted yesterday. All we can say on this is, "Tell us something we don't know Mr. Pawar. After all, it would take at least this much of time to generate funds for your coming near future campaigns, right?" While Mr. Minister had indicated the government have no plans to import onions, a small 450 tonnes consignments of onion, priced at Rs. 18-20 per Kg, from neighboring country Pakistan also made their way yesterday through Punjab Border. So, Now we are going to pacify our hunger quest, by knocking the doors of beggars. Wow..!!! And I thought we have been predicted to be Super-Powers till 2020. Still a far cry !!
"The Prime Minister desires all necessary steps to effectively deal with the extraordinary price rise of onions and bring the price down to an affordable level," An official source said, quoting letters written by Singh to the ministries concerned. I was overwhelmed by this news, as it made me realize that at least Congress High Command didn't stop PM to write, if eventually from speaking. Well, letters of empathy, words of consolation, virtual efforts of government are not going to make any difference till the time some serious steps against Black Marketing & Hoarding ain't a part of Indian Judiciary System. Till that time, Consistent hikes in the rates of petrol, onions and other basic commodities would keep hurting Indian Citizens & all they could do is, SULK..!! So, I leave you folks sulking and thinking. But, do Apply for "Onion Loans," because you never know when you've to corrupt someone for these loans too. So, avail the advantage of "First come first Serve onion loans."
