The Hindu : New Delhi News : PM assures to review MSP for paddy

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Saturday, Nov 03, 2007
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New Delhi

PM assures to review MSP for paddy

Special Correspondent

Chief Minister meets Manmohan Singh

‘Union will have to consider the financial implications of raising MSP for paddy first’
Dr. Reddy also called on Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday assured Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy that the Centre would revisit the issue of bringing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy on par with wheat.

Briefing mediapersons after his late evening meeting with the Prime Minister, Dr. Reddy said the Government would have to consider the financial implications of raising the MSP for paddy first. Further, the Prime Minister said the Government would have to factor the impact such a hike would have on consumers.

About Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) criticism of the Government for dragging its feet on this issue, the Chief Minister sought to remind the Opposition party that the MSP was raised by only Rs. 70 in its nine years of rule while it has gone up by Rs. 140 in the three years of the present regime.

As for the TDP’s poser on why the Government was not announcing an additional bonus for paddy farmers when it was spending large amounts on irrigation facilities, Dr Reddy accused the TDP of behaving like typical neo-converts; in this case to the cause of farmers.

“We are trying to build a permanent infrastructure for irrigation so that farming becomes a viable economic proposition,” he said.

In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the State Government sought to draw attention to the fact that the MSP for the 13 crops grown in Andhra Pradesh for which MSP is fixed by the Centre was not commensurate with the cost of production as a result of which farmers were not getting remunerative price for their produce.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister submitted a similar memorandum to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

Another demand pertained to settling dues to the tune of Rs. 62 crore towards procurement of maize under MSP to Andhra Pradesh Markfed.

Dr. Reddy also met Union Minister for Commerce Kamal Nath with a demand to extend the Anti-Dumping Duty on raw silk for five more years to safeguard the interests of sericulture farmers.

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