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VS to lead team to Delhi

Special Correspondent

Threatens agitations if Centre does not restore rice quota

Terms Ministry’s statement on rice quota a cruel joke
Says the issue will be taken up with Manmohan Singh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ministers and ruling parties stepped up criticism of the Centre over the cut in rice quota for the State on Friday even as the Union Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution defended its decision.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan told mediapersons here that the cut in grain quota for public distribution amounted to pushing the people into starvation.

The Ministry’s statement that the State had sufficient stocks of rice was a cruel joke.

The Chief Minister said that he would be leading a delegation to Delhi to represent the issue before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The issue of funding for the Kuttanad package would also be taken up.

If the Centre would not concede the State’s demands, agitations would have to be mounted in Delhi.

Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran warned that the Left Democratic Front would organise a mass agitation if the Centre did not make amends to its decision. CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and other leaders joined him in voicing the protest.

Dharnas held

The Democratic Youth Federation of India organised dharnas in Thiruvananthapuram and other places. Federation State secretary T.V. Rajesh threatened in Kannur that the Union Ministers representing Kerala would face blockades in the State.

The Chief Minister noted that Kerala produced only 6.30 lakh tonnes of paddy a year. It had procured 2.51 lakh tonnes of paddy last year by paying a higher price than fixed by the Central government.

The expected yield of rice from that was 1.70 lakh tonnes. Of that, 85,000 tonnes were transferred to the Central pool. The remaining paddy was yet to be milled. The Centre was claiming that the balance would be sufficient for the next five months. This was when the monthly requirement of rice for public distribution was 1.13 lakh tonnes.

Mr. Achuthanandan said that while the Centre was insisting that the State should collect levy, surplus States such as Andhra Pradesh was not imposing any levy at all. So, the Centre’s stand on this issue was not correct.

Ministry’s rejoinder

Meanwhile, the Ministry said in a rejoinder to the State Minister for Food and Civil Supplies C. Divakaran’s statement at a press conference, reported in these columns on Wednesday, that the Central government had advised the State government at the beginning of the kharif season to impose a levy of at least 50 per cent.

However, the State government had not issued any levy order to rice millers or traders whereas most other State governments imposed a levy of 50 per cent to 70 per cent.

It said that Kerala had opted for the decentralised procurement scheme under which State agencies undertook the procurement with Central subsidies. Since procurement in Kerala was short of requirements, additional quantities were delivered by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from other States.

While the release of rice to the BPL and other categories under welfare schemes were being provided by the FCI, remaining allocations were to be lifted from the stocks procured by the State government.

Vendetta alleged

The CPI(M) State Secretary said that Centre was denying rations to 60 lakh families in the State. It was part of political vendetta against the Left parties which had withdrawn support to the Central government over the nuclear deal. Noting that the State did not have stocks for distribution of rations till December as claimed by the Centre, the CPI(M) leader demanded that the Centre should correct its mistake.

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