The alternative is to pay the market price — Rs 60 a kilo. Which, of course, is far cheaper than Delhi, where the pungent vegetable is available for nothing less than Rs 80.
Each family is entitled to 2 kgs of onion a week from the government.
The indelible ink – which is normally used during voting – is there to ensure that no one cheats and gets more than their quota. As with voting, it is applied on the index finger of the right hand.
The loophole? Long queues and an inordinately long waiting period, points out buyers.
“It is a very good scheme. But it does take long. The waiting time is up to two hours sometimes, but it worth it,” said Bhuvaneswari, a home-maker.
Admitting to the long queues, T Ramesh Kumar, the assistant supervisor of Hyderabad’s Alwal Rythu Bazaar, said they keep the shops open “from 8 in the morning to 8 at night”.
Every day, around 4.5 tonnes of onion is supplied to the market. A few extra tons are given during weekends.
Onion prices have skyrocketed since August, to counter which, the Centre is importing onions from Afghanistan and Pakistan and most state governments have been selling the vegetable at subsidised rates.
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