Open Market Sale of wheat, rice by government if required: Shri Pawar STATE SUGAR, FOOD, CIVIL SUPPLIES MINISTERS’ CONFERENCE
	16:43 IST

The Food and Agriculture Minister Shri Sharad Pawar has stated that if required, Government would not hesitate to undertake open market intervention and release of wheat and rice under Open Market Sale Scheme to State Governments. The Minister was addressing State Ministers for Food and Civil Supplies and Sugar, here today. He asked the States to gear up and put in place appropriate mechanism to sell wheat and rice to consumers and ensure that these releases check inflationary trends in the food economy. He pointed out that though the Government allocated 9.09 lakh tonnes of wheat to State Governments under Open Market Sale Scheme, only 0.74 lakh tonnes of wheat was lifted, that too by only some States. The Minister also stated that while almost all the State Governments have been requesting the additional allocation of foodgrains to meet the situation arising out of deficient rainfall, most of them have conveyed that they do not require any foodgrains under the Open Market Sale Scheme. The Minister said: ‘Almost all the State Governments have been requesting for additional allocation of foodgrains to meet the situation arising out of deficient rainfall. It is, however, a matter of concern that when we requested State Governments to indicate their requirement of wheat under Open Market Sale Scheme, only the State Governments of Delhi, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakswadeep and Andaman & Nicobar have responded and except Jammu & Kashmir and Lakswadeep, all of them have conveyed that they do not require any foodgrains under OMSS for distribution through the State Governments. The Central Government proposes to allocate wheat to State Governments at Minimum Support Prices. The same principle is being adopted in case of rice where MSP derived price and equated freight will be the cost at which rice will be provided to the State Government. The Government of India is thus incurring subsidy on distribution of wheat and rice under the scheme. It is expected from the State Governments that they will effectively use this tool to cool down inflationary trends in food economy.’ The Minister asked the States to ensure maximum procurement of rice in the coming marketing season. He said: ‘State Governments should impose a minimum 50% levy on rice millers. Appropriate mechanisms to record purchases of paddy by millers should be put in place by the States and the levy orders should be effectively enforced. States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry have not collected any levy rice during KMS 2008-09. It is also suggested that all required arrangements for KMS 2009-10 should be ensured by State Governments including sanctioning of cash credit limit, distribution of mandis between FCI and State Governments, finalization of milling contracts etc. Milling of paddy procured by State agencies should be completed by 31st March, 2010.’ Shri Pawar made a special request to Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh to review the high taxes levied by them on procurement of foodgrains by Government agencies. Shri Pawar also expressed concern that the subsidized foodgrains meant for poor people are not reaching the targeted population. He appealed to the States to ensure that fair price shops function in an efficient and transparent manner. The Minister also asked the States to enforce various laws available to them to deter hoarding, misuse of Public Distribution System and other such offences. ******* MP:MR:CP:conferencefood(19.8.2009)