'Common man 'worst victim' of UPA's food mismanagement' : BJP

New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) Stating that the 'Aam Admi' was clearly the worst victim of food mismanagement and insecurity, the BJP today accused the UPA government of transforming the ''food surplus country into a food scarce nation.'' BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad told newspersons that the food economy of the country during the NDA regime was 'surplus' with overflowing grain buffer stocks and India exported food grains worth Rs 7,000 crore in 2003. ''Now we have a situation where essential food articles are to be imported paying many times higher than Minimum Support Price paid to the farmers.'' A CBI inquiry had to be ordered when Commerce Ministry allowed pulses export bypassing the ban on the same.

The common man on whose name the UPA had ascended to power was the worst sufferer because the prices were leaping beyond the reach of even well to do sections of society.

He asked the government to find a 'holistic and systematic' solution for overcoming the problem stalking the food insecurity scenario. The issues concerning declining production, productivity, rain cycles, floods, minimum support price, irrigation suppport, input costs of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides should all be taken into consideration for taking the country out of present mess where the Planning Commission had spoken of food grain availability falling to the 70s level.

Mr Prasad said the BJP President had sought the government to take Parliament into confidence and formulate short and long-term policy after a detailed discussion to manage the crisis.

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