The Hindu : New Delhi News : Union Ministers differ over MSP for paddy

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Thursday, Nov 01, 2007
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New Delhi

Union Ministers differ over MSP for paddy

Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: A crucial meeting of Union Ministers from the rice-growing States on Wednesday failed to reach an agreement on further raising the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy procured for the Targeted Public Distribution System. The matter will now be referred to the Prime Minister and the Union Cabinet.

“I am supposed to report to the Cabinet not to the media,” a terse Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told journalists after the late evening meeting chaired by him. If sorted out, the issue would be taken up at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs here on Thursday.

It is understood that Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had reservations over further increasing the MSP for paddy. His argument is it will push up prices and fuel inflation. He also told the meeting that they should go by the recommendation of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP), which sets the MSP for commodities to be procured by the government. The Centre has already given a bonus of Rs.50 a quintal for both the common and Grade A varieties of paddy for the current procurement season. The government is, however, under pressure from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and its own Ministers from the rice-growing States to raise the paddy MSP at par with wheat, which is Rs.1,000 a quintal for the next rabi season.

The meeting was convened after the Union Cabinet last week deferred a decision on the issue. As Mr. Chidambaram was out of the country at that time, it was decided that Mr. Pawar would elicit the views of the Ministers belonging to the rice-growing States. Union Ministers Renuka Chowdhury and D. Purandhareswari said there would be another meeting after Diwali to discuss the matter. Among those who attended were Ministers T.R. Baalu and Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

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