Onions giving budget families more than a tearful

New Delhi: When Kamala Devi moved to Delhi from Bihar 10 years ago, hoping for a better life, she never thought that some day she would want to go back home. But burdened under the rising prices of vegetables, she is mulling over just that — even if only for a while.

"I work in five houses everyday and earn 2,000 rupees [Dh162] a month. This, in addition to my husband's earnings, is enough to run the house.

"But now things are not the same. With something as basic as onions costing 60 rupees a kilo, how can commoners like us afford to live here?" Kamala, a domestic worker, said.

Though the government has assured people that the retail onion prices will come down "very soon", she said the prices of other vegetables like tomatoes and carrots have shot up.

"If I stop buying vegetables because they cost so much, then what are we supposed to eat?

"I am actually thinking of going back home for a while, maybe, and then return when things stabilise," Kamala added.

Rajesh Mehta, who owns a stationary shop in north Delhi, said his monthly budget has gone haywire because of the increasing prices of commodities of daily use, especially vegetables.

No longer an option

"Winters are the time when you can have plenty of fresh vegetables at a relatively cheap price. But not this year. Unlike the usual 10-15 rupees a kilo, tomatoes now cost 40 rupees.

"It's the same with other vegetables like carrots and peas which the vendors are selling for 40 rupees a kilo," Mehta said.

Bargaining at a local vegetable vendor's shop, Sarita Jain, a homemaker, said: "Okra costs 80 rupees a kilo, tomatoes 40 rupees and onions 60 rupees. The government has been assuring us that the onion prices will come down, and they have come down from the last few days when it was 80 rupees. But what about the other vegetables?".

"I guess it's better to have chicken or mutton than vegetables these days! But we don't even have that option since we are vegetarians," Jain said.