Shortage prompts onion rage in India

12 October 1998

Shortage prompts onion rage in India

THE worst onion shortage for decades provoked rage on the streets of Indias cities at the weekend as desperate citizens scrambled to buy their staple vegetable.

A bad crop and hoarding by traders has seen prices rise from the normal 12p/kg to around 59p in many parts of the country.

The crisis has already claimed its first political casualty. Sahib Singh, the chief minister of Delhi state, stepped down a month before local assembly elections.

Mr Singh had tried to dampen the wrath of protestors by allowing onions to be imported from Middle East countries at subsidised prices through the public distribution network.

• The Herald 12/10/98 page 2