Vegetables replace sweets, dryfruits in gift packs this Raksha Bandhan

According to reports, tomatoes have been selling at about 100 rupees per kilogram in recent days. Onions, the most widely used vegetable, is soaring to an average of Rs 25 per kg.

There was a time when flowers, bouquets, chocolates and dry fruits etc. used to be gifts. This is what we have seen in many advertisements ahead of 'Raksha Bandhan'.

People might have never thought that a day would come when shopkeepers would sell vegetables as a gift on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. Sounds strange, experimental. But it is true.

A shopkeeper in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh is selling gift packs containing vegetables on Raksha Bandhan, amidst soaring vegetable prices, reports ANI. Onion, tomato, potato, lemon, brinjal etc are wrapped in a box ready to sell. It is not clear whether the shopkeeper is sending out a political message to the government.

However, for sure, price rise is the sole reason which makes vegetables as valuable as other gift items. Owing to heavy rains and flooding in parts of India prices of tomato, onion have risen dramatically since June.

According to reports, tomatoes have been selling at about 100 rupees per kilogram in recent days. Onions, the most widely used vegetable, is soaring to an average of Rs 25 per kg.

A few days ago, the Uttar Pradesh Congress started the 'state bank of tomato', with facilities like easy loans for buying tomatoes, attractive interest rates on its deposit and locker facility, as a novel way to protest the soaring price of the vegetable, reported PTI.

A Congress said: "The idea is not just to lodge a protest but also to create awareness among the people about the soaring price of the vegetable."