noida no this wasnt a lottery ticket nor the sudden spotting of a celebrity the attraction nonetheless was strong crates of tomatoes that were selling for rs 70 a kilo in no time word had spread and around 500 people queued up on friday morning to purchase subsidised tomatoes that the national cooperative consumers federation of indias nccf office in noidas sector 4 was sellingthe office on friday sold 500kg of the staple vegetable which has been on fire for weeks and is currently retailing for rs 250 a kilo at markets in the city tomatoes are being sold on a firstcomefirstserved basis and each person is allowed to buy only 1kg officials said people who stood patiently in queue for up to two hours for their turn said their household budgets had been badly affected and the government should check inflation pointing out that prices of other vegetables had also risen steeplynccf officials maintained they will continue to sell tomatoes at subsidised rates in the coming days sumit kumar the officer in charge of tomato distribution at nccf noida said the federation has been selling tomatoes in noida delhi kanpur jaipur and other cities at subsidised rates for the past two weeks we get tomato supply from the delhi head office every day earlier we used to allow sale of 2kg per person but the buyers have increased we have started selling only 1kg per person now he said it was earlier selling tomatoes for rs 90 per kg tomatoes are sold from 12pm to 4pm every day officials said customers have to bring their own bags as nccf staff dont provide carry bagsrajendra kumar a resident of sector 20 who had queued up runs a medical store in the neighbourhood on thursday a customer told me that nccf is selling tomatoes at lower rates so i came here people have businesses and other engagements and it isnt viable for us to stand in queue for tomatoes leaving everything behind the government should check inflation and the rise of tomato prices he saidanil saxena a resident of sector 19 said he waited for two hours they have sufficient stock but are allowing only 1kg per person they should give at least two kilos each so that people need not come and stand in line every day he saida head constable of noida police was also in the queue the price rise is affecting everyone i was passing by and saw tomatoes being sold at a subsidised price so i decided to buy some he saidsarojni a resident of sector 4 was sweating as she bought tomatoes the price hike has affected our kitchens tomatoes are sold for rs 250300 per kg in retail shops prices of other vegetables have also gone up the government should check this she saidmeanwhile others who had lined up said the hike doesnt matter to them rajbali singh who works in a private company said he supports the government prime minister narendra modi