Punjab asks Centre to lift export ban on non-basmati

Chandigarh, Oct 13 (UNI) The Punjab Government today urged the Union Government to immediately lift the ban on the export of all non-basmati variety of rice and to reconsider the categorisation of PUSA 1121 variety as Basmati variety.

This request has been made in a communication sent by Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon to Union Minister of Commerce Kamal Nath.

In the communication, Mr Kairon requested that in view of the ongoing procurement of paddy in the state, the Union Government should lift the ban so as to enable the rice millers to make purchases of the Superior Grade=A non basmati varieties from the markets of the state. This step would, on the one hand enable the farmers to get higher prices for their produce and on the other help the millers to earn valuable foreign exchange for the country, he added.

"This would give the much needed impetus to the industrial economy of Punjab in the current recession period", Mr Kairon added.

Keeping in view the dire financial conditions of the Punjab farmers and with an objective of ensuring good prices for their produce, the Punjab Minister urged the Union Government to lift the ban at the earliest. This step would go a long way in helping the farmers to tide over the financial crisis, he added.

UNI HS MMS1700