Centre supplying inadequate, rotten onions, alleges Mamata

With the price of onions touching Rs 150 a kilo in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday put the onus on the centre accusing it of supplying inadequate and rotten stock of the vegetable and asked her party workers to hit the street on the issue.

"Price rise is a matter that depends on the Central government. A few months back, the Centre asked us to specify the quantity or onion we need. We asked for 200 metric tonnes," Banerjee said a programme here.

The Centre, however, gave the state only 20 tonnes, she said.

"Out of that, ten tonnes were rotten," she said at the Solidarity Day programme to commemorate the death anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar.

The Chief Minister said before her Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011, onions were not grown in the state.

"No initiatives were taken to grow onions in the state. But now we are now cultivating onions in some parts of the state," she said.

"I ask Trinamool Congress workers to hit the streets against the spiralling onion prices," she said.IANS