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PDS supply of palm oil suicidal: MP

KASARAGOD: The decision of the Union government to distribute imported palm oil through the public distribution system (PDS) at subsidised rates is suicidal and tantamount to providing subsidy to oil palm farmers of Malaysia, C.K. Chandrappan, MP and Communist Party of India leader, has said.

Mr. Chandrappan was here on Sunday to inaugurate a vehicle rally of the All-Kerala School Teachers Union from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram.

He told presspersons that the move would result in a steep fall in the demand for coconut oil, which was priced at around Rs. 65 a kg in the open market.

This would affect coconut farmers in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and would force them to abandon coconut farming. In such a situation, the edible oil prices would rise further and the strategy of the Union government to control prices of edible oil through import would backfire.

Mr. Chandrappan said he had reliable information that Malaysia was planning to double the area of oil palm cultivation, foreseeing an increase in demand in India for palm oil.

He said the Union government should revoke its strategy of importing essential commodities at high costs to control prices, as it had failed to work earlier also. The government imported wheat at a high price in 2004 to control its price in the domestic market, but that did not yield the desired result. He said the only way to control the price rise was to strengthen the public distribution system and establish a buffer stock of edible oil and foodgrains to enable market intervention.

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