A month ago people were left choking in disbelief when the prices of onions skyrocketed beyond imagination. Well, the tale of rising prices certainly did not end there in Pune. There is some more sour news in store for chicken lovers. Chicken meat, which traditionally has been an easily available and cheap source of protein for the masses, besides being the most preferred delicacy in all seasons, has become more costly now. During the last couple of days price of the much-loved tasty bird has almost doubled, that is anything between Rs 40 to 50.
The reason behind this sudden rise in prices is due to a curious factor that has been labeled as ‘hatch holiday’, something that the consumers have never heard of and don’t know anything about it. According to the chicken vendors in the city, prices have shot up due to an unscheduled extension of the hatching holiday by more than 30 days.
Those of you who are confused what ‘hatching holiday’ is all about, it simply means that when eggs are not hatched by broiler chicken manufacturing companies, it leads to chicks not being delivered to retailers. This ultimately causes shortage of supply in the market. Retailers complain that suppliers declare hatching holidays as per their whims and fancies to hike prices. The revised rates of a kilogram (kg) of dressed chicken, which was selling in the market at somewhere around Rs 100-110, now have risen to Rs 160, a kg of live chicken, which was earlier priced between Rs 60-70, now costs Rs 120, and for a kg of boneless chicken, which costs till now Rs 150-160 a kg, one has to shell out a whooping Rs 240. As for those who relish some mouth watering leg pieces, the price has hit Rs 180 a kg from the normal Rs 130-140.
A prominent chicken retailer of Pune, Muneer Inamdar of Bismillah and Company in Nana Peth, categorically blamed the unscheduled hatching holiday declared by major hatcheries for rising prices that is taking a toll on the business. “As chicks are not being supplied to farmers, who usually feed the birds before selling it off to retailers, there is absolutely no supply of birds, which has lead to acute shortage. There have been incidents before when major hatcheries have deliberately gone ahead to lower prices that has impacted poor farmers seriously, leading them to bankruptcy. This is a cheap and sad trick to make quick money from the public. Chicken is a major source of nutrition for an average citizen across the country, and now it is out of reach for many due to some money-mongering individuals,” he said.
Sajid Shaikh, owner of Kwality Chicken at Shivaji Market said that due to the hatching holiday they have lost as much as 70 percent of their sales. “Prices are rising for there’s a shortage of supply of birds. Hatcheries have illegally created an artificial shortage to gain greater control over the business and deny poor farmers of their business,” he added.
“Prices have gone up by Rs 40-50 per kg but we are not able to recover the difference from our customers as most of them are regular eaters. Some traders are trying to bully and enforce their monopoly on the business, causing heavy strain on the buyers,” says Ikram Khan, owner of Metro Restaurant at the Pune Railway Station.
Retailers insist that it is time the state government intervened and put some regulatory mechanism in place to stop such malpractices and control the unfair rise in prices.
Sheetal Jadhav, a customer at Shivaji Market said that before the rise in prices she bought two kilos of chicken for Rs 200 but that had become almost a dream now. “First onions, now prices of chicken have gone up. It gets extremely difficult to maintain and manage the family budget with such steep rise in prices,” she said.
Owners of hotels across Pune consider the sudden hike in prices to be a bad sign for trade, as they cannot change the rates on the menu immediately fearing fewer customers. They consider hatch holidays to be anti-retailer, anti-wholesaler and anti-customers. When contacted Resident Deputy Collector Anil Pawar, he seemed to be entirely oblivious of the development and said that he has to check what the law says as chicken meat is not rated under essential commodities. “We will have to verify whether hatcheries have made any such call. However, I believe that if there’s a need of any hatch holiday, it should be informed in advance to the hatcheries in the best interest of the consumers and the business at large,” he said.
Arvind Chavan, the public relations officer of Venkateshwar Hatcheries, said that he cannot comment anything on the issue for the company’s CEO, Anuradha Desai, is out of town.
“Whatever be the reasons, I only hope that the issues get ironed out soon. The government must step in and make sure that business houses doesn’t act as per their whims and fancies and cause problems for general public,” said Rajiv Karnik, a resident of Kothrud.
- Siddhartha Laik
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