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Lift ban on rice export, Badal tells Centre

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the Centre to lift the ban on rice export, arguing that it is detrimental to the interests of the country’s farmers and could jeopardise the national food security scenario.

In a letter to Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the copies of which were released to the media, the Chief Minister said the Union Government’s decision was not only anti-farmers but also against the basic principles of sound economic planning.

He expressed surprise that on the one hand the country was importing wheat instead of encouraging local farmers to produce more, on the other it had imposed a ban on the export of rice.

The Chief Minister said that if Centre was unable to give a remunerative Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the farmers then it had no moral right to deny them the opportunity to export rice.

He urged both the Prime Minister and the Union Agriculture Minister to review the decision in the larger public interest because it would not only hamper the interests of the farming community but also alienate them from producing paddy.

Mr. Badal also demanded a remunerative MSP for maize in order to encourage crop diversification and reiterated that his government would continue its endeavour to get Punjab’s farming community its due and justified share.

Meanwhile, according to an official release, government agencies and private millers have procured more than 87 lakh tonnes of paddy this season.

Out of the total arrivals, government agencies lifted 69,73,045 tonnes of paddy which amounts to 80 per cent of the procured paddy, whereas private millers have lifted slightly less than 19 per cent.The Food Corporation of India has procured 77,069 tonnes, which amounts to 1.1 per cent.

An official spokesman said Ferozepur district led in the operations by procuring 11,10,772 tonnes, while Ludhiana with 10,45,342 tonnes was second and Patiala with 8,69,985 tonnes ranked third.

The spokesman said the State Government had settled payments worth Rs. 3,863.61 crore for paddy procured till October 21, while Rs.4,630.22 crore payment had been allocated to all agencies to ensure timely payment to the farmers. The Government has issued instructions to make payment to the farmers within 72 hours.

To ensure smooth procurement and timely payments to the farmers, the Governmenthas got a cash credit limit of Rs.7,439 crore sanctioned from the Reserve Bank of Indiaforthe ongoing kharif season.

The State Government had set up 1,544 procurement centres and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement of paddy.

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Lift ban on rice export, Badal tells Centre

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