Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Agreement was not breached: Minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran said here on Saturday that the State had not breached any agreement with the Centre regarding supply of foodgrains to the State.

The Opposition campaign that the Centre had cut rice quota because of breach of agreement by the State government was baseless, he said. In a statement here, the Minister recalled that the said agreement was signed in 2004-05 by the previous government. Its validity had expired in 2005 and the State government had sought revision of the terms for renewal of the agreement. As per the provision of the agreement, the memorandum of understanding would have to be renewed if one of the parties asked for it.

A key provision of the agreement was that paddy should be procured at a price fixed by the Centre which was Rs. 7.45 a kg in 2007. (It was increased to Rs. 8.45 a kg from last month.) This provision was not acceptable to the government as it would amount to cheating the farmers. The procurement price offered by the State government was Rs.10 a kg.

The Centre had proposed renewal of the agreement on July 5. The State government had written to the Centre on June 23 suggesting that the terms should be revised. There was no misunderstanding over the issue. The Opposition should desist from propaganda and cooperate with the State government in getting the quotas restored.

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