The Hindu : New Delhi News : Plea to address problems of non-Basmati rice millers

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Saturday, Oct 20, 2007
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New Delhi

Plea to address problems of non-Basmati rice millers

Special Correspondent

Purandareswari seeks Kamal Nath’s intervention in matter

NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandareswari on Friday sought Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath’s intervention in addressing the problem of millers of non-Basmati rice in Andhra Pradesh following an “unforeseen ban” on its export.

In a letter, Ms. Purandareswari brought to his notice the problems being faced by these rice millers on account of the ban imposed on the export of non-Basmati rice without any advance notice.

Stating that normally a month’s notice is provided before the export is banned.

The Minister said this time round it was announced overnight, leading to severe panic among the millers who had made commitments to buyers abroad.

Grain loaded

According to the letter, most of the grain for export had been loaded onto ships anchored in the Kakinada port and the millers would be penalised for no fault of theirs if they were unable to deliver the rice on time.

Also, “India would lose the confidence and trust of the other countries to which her commitments stand for not being able to supply the committed quantity of rice on time and to rebuild this confidence would take India a very long time again.”

Same request

Ms. Purandareswari also met Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh with the same request. At this meeting, she was accompanied by two members of the Lok Sabha, Vundavalli Aruna Kumar (Rajahmundry) and B. Vallabbhaneni (Tenali).

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