Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written to Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Minister Paswan requesting the Government to relax food grains procurement specifications, especially with regards to the moisture content in food grains.
Sonia cited that unseasonal rains and hailstorms had caused widespread damage to standing crops across several States and thus sought relaxation in guidelines for procurement of wheat, especially which is ready for cutting.
“I request the Centre to relax specifications, particularly with regard to moisture content, for procurement of wheat,” Sonia wrote to Paswan on Monday.
The letter comes after Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh stated that the recent spate of unseasonal rainfall has damaged standing crops in 14 states and may lead to 4-5 per cent loss in the wheat harvest.
“Existing manual of Food Corporation of India specifies that if moisture content in Rabi wheat crop exceeds 14 per cent, the Government would reject such wheat. Additionally, a discount would be levied if the moisture content is 12-14 per cent,” the Congress president mentioned stressing the need for “extraordinary situation that calls for a suspension of regulations which are enforceable in ordinary conditions”.
“In normal circumstances such specifications may hold, but over the past few weeks unseasonal rains have severely damaged crops. I have personally visited affected areas and witnessed the acute distress that our farmers are facing,” Sonia mentioned to Paswan. Paswan was an ally of the Congress-led UPA Government and also served as a Minister.
The Congress president said she personally had visited the affected areas and realised very little wheat will qualify for procurement under the existing manual for procurement.
“These are difficult days for farmers and not being able to sell their produce, defeats the very purpose of guaranteeing a MSP to framers. Though the MSP for wheat fixed by the Government doesn’t reflect true costs, a complete denial of MSP will compound the existing problems for our farmers,” the Congress president said in her two-page letter.