The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : “It’s for Manmohan or Sonia to decide on higher MSP”

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Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

“It’s for Manmohan or Sonia to decide on higher MSP”

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Monday said Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was for paying higher prices to farmers but felt that a decision should be taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The Finance Minister conveyed to him that there was a strong case for raising the minimum support price in view of the less than four per cent growth in the agriculture sector. But as a higher procurement price could lead to the retail price for food items going up, he advised Dr. Reddy, in a telephonic conversation, to discuss the issue with the Prime Minister and the Congress president.

Dr. Reddy said Mr. Chidambaram agreed that something needed to be done to improve the lot of farmers and make agriculture remunerative.

Asked who would take the initiative since it was a political decision, Dr. Reddy said the Congress, being the leading partner in the ruling United Progressive Alliance, would have to take the major responsibility and “we are not shirking it.”

Delegation

He said, “We are planning to bring an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister on the issue of MSP for paddy.”

During his meeting with Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Murli Deora, Dr. Reddy asked him to release one lakh new LPG connections a month to the State for BPL families under the Deepam scheme.

ONGC “dodging” project

He drew Mr. Deora’s attention to the delay in taking a decision on setting up a refinery in Kakinada by the Oil and Natural gas Corporation.

“I requested Mr. Deora to take a final decision so that we could negotiate with other players in the sector.

The ONGC has been dodging the issue even after the Prime Minister’s intervention,” Dr. Reddy said.

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