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Brinda Karat to Pawar: share information

NEW DELHI: Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat has urged Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to share with the West Bengal government and agencies concerned the information he has about foodgrains meant for the Targeted Public Distribution System in West Bengal being diverted to Bangladesh.

On Tuesday, the Minister said there were “some complaints” of Targeted PDS foodgrains being diverted to Bangladesh against which the State should be alert.

Ms. Karat said she checked with Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, the Additional Director-General of Border Security Force (Eastern Range) and the Customs Officer in charge of the region who said they had “no such information.”

She said there were 13 international check posts on the border which were used for regular trade manned by the Customs Department and the officials in charge told her that there were no reports of any illegal movement of PDS grains.

“According to their reports they have cases of open market sugar being smuggled, but not of PDS grains.”

Ms. Karat said the land border between West Bengal and Bangladesh is 1,750 km.

Fencing for 1,450 km was in progress of which 1,150 km was already fenced.

"According to the BSF there is ‘heavy strength’ along the border which is patrolled regularly and is ‘pretty impervious’ for significant movement of prohibited items or unregulated commercial activity,” she said. “The rice export to Bangladesh has been banned by the government of India from October 9 and only Letters of Credit prior to that date were now being permitted. The quality of rice exported to Bangladesh according to the demand in that country is quite different from that available in the PDS,” she added.

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