'UPA ruined food security, unable to check inflation'

New Delhi, July 1: Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav today charged the UPA government with systematically destroying the food security of the country, and claimed that the recent CWC meeting on price rise was ''just trying to misguide people.''

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Yadav said that the prices of sugar, pulses, flour and vegetables have risen sharply affecting the lives of common people, adding that by holding a meeting on price rise, the government was trying to misguide the people.

He said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announcing package for farmers in Vidarbha would have not much beneficial impact if the government fails to do anything substantial to ensure that the money given to farmers reaches them at the grassroot level and not diverted by middlemen.

During the past 20 to 30 years, successive government had created food security in the country, ''Mr Yadav said, alleging that this was destroyed by the UPA government's policy of breaking the monopoly procurement by the Food Corporation and allowing private trade to purchase food grains at the lower Minimum Support Prices from farmers.

''This has created an artificial food scarcity in the country,'' he said, adding that the government's decision to import wheat was very ''unfortunate.'' Importing foodgrain at the same or higher price would not only have adverse impact on the farmers but also would not reduce inflation. This allowing the market forces to ruin food scarcity has created the situation in which farmers are forced to commit suicide while people are on the brink of starvation,'' he said.

Mr Yadav said that during the NDA government's regime, the procurement by FCI was much more due to which buffer stock was full and the government distributed about 300 lakh tonnes of foodgrains during the drought season, of which 100 lakh tonne was distributed free of cost. However, the procurement by FCI during the UPA regime has dipped to 140 lakh tonnes foodgrains during 2004-05 and 96 lakh metric tonnes of wheat during 2005-06, he pointed out.

According to the JD(U) President, this lowering of buffer stock has happened due to low MSP price to farmers, allowing market forces to control foodgrains procurement, no revamping of PDS system and not monitoring the Multi Commodity Exchange while allowing essential commodities like potatoes, pulses and sugar etc under which had resulted in price rise.

Mr Yadav said that MNC companies like ITC, Kargil and Australian Wheat Board have procured 60 lakh tonnes of wheat from farmers and are holding them in godowns causing artificial scarcity and now the government is planning to import wheat from Australia only to deal with this. ''These MNCs procured wheat from farmers at lower price and through Commodity Exchange confirmed future delivery at a much higher price thereby minting money,'' he claimed.

Stating that Commodity Exchange has created havoc with the foodgrain security of the country, he said that this Exchange should be regulated and essential commodities be brought out of it.

''Middlemen should be regulated to safeguard the interests of farmers and the consumers,'' he said.

''Though a subsidy of Rs 27000 crore is given to the PDS system to provide foodgrains at low price to poor people, the UPA government has done nothing substantial to revamp it during the past two year,'' Mr Yadav said, demanding that a meeting of Chief Ministers be called to deliberate the issue of making Targeted PDS more effective so that it reached the intended beneficiaries.

Mr Yadav demanded the monopoly procurement by FCI be restored as it was essential not only for ensuring foodgrain security but also saving the livelihood of 1.5 lakh employees who would be jobless if the government continued its neglect of the situation.

UNI

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