Expressing concern over the delay in banning onion exports, BJP leader Shanta Kumar today charged the Centre with being more "interested in profits earned by exporters".
The former Union minister and Rajya Sabha member in a statement said, "The export of onions should have been banned long back and the delay in taking this decision only proves that the government was more interested in profits earned by exporters."
He said it was a matter of common sense to ban export of onions when the prices were beginning to rise. If the government had acted on time, the prices would not have breached Rs 100 per kg-mark, he said.
When a similar situation started emerging during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA regime, Kumar who was the Consumer Affairs minister had discussed the matter with the then Home minister L K Advani and banned onion exports within a week, the statement said.
Kumar said the prices increased because crops had failed in many countries and hoarders and exporters were minting money making the poor suffer.
