PANAJI: With onion prices skyrocketing, the state cabinet on Wednesday decided that as a relief measure, people will be provided three kilos of onions per ration card at Rs 32 per kg. Onions are currently retailing at nearly Rs 100 per kilo.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that supply will start within 10 days.
The cabinet has approved the purchase of 1,045 metric tonne (MT) of onion from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) at the rate of Rs 28,000 per MT. There will be no additional financial burden on the state government on account of the above proposal as the same will be distributed at a cost-to-cost basis, a cabinet note said.
The rate of Rs 32 per kg will include transportation cost of Rs1 per kg and profit margin for fair price shops at the rate of Rs 3 per kg, the note further said.
There are 3.4 lakh ration card holders in Goa. Of these, over 12,000 are Antyodaya Anna Yojana cards (AAY); 1.3 lakh are priority household cards (PHH); two lakh are Above Poverty Line (APL) cards and 99 are Annapurna card holders.
The department of civil supplies and consumer affairs distributes 35 kg of rice per card per month for AAY card holders, five kilos per person per month for PHH card holders, and eight kg rice and 4 kg wheat per card per month for APL card holders.