Relax norms for procuring wheat, Sonia writes to govt

by Shivendra Singh · April 8, 2015

Congress President Sonia Gandhi. (Source: Express archive)

Pointing out that farmers are facing an acute distress because of the damage caused to crops by unseasonal rain and hailstorms, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked the government to relax specifications for procurement of wheat.

The Food Corporation of India norms do not allow procurement of wheat crop if the moisture content exceeds 14 per cent. Additionally, a discount would be levied if the moisture content is between 12 per cent and 14 per cent.

In a letter to Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Sonia said the “extraordinary situation calls for a suspension of regulations, which are enforceable in ordinary conditions”. This, she said, would provide some relief to farmers.

Sonia’s letter comes days after she visited BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh to meet farmers affected by the unseasonal rain and hailstorms in an attempt to reach out to farmers, who comprise a significant part of the voting population. The Congress is also set to hold a major kisan rally on April 19 to protest changes in the land acquisition act.

Arguing that farmers have been pushed to poverty overnight and are staring at bankruptcy, Sonia said “given this unprecedented crisis, very little wheat will qualify for procurement under the existing manual for procurement”.

“There have been many precedents in the past where the government had relaxed quality specifications for procurement in times of crises.

The UPA government continued with that precedent and ensured exemptions for farmers during such grave occasions,” she said.

Sonia said in “normal circumstances such specifications may hold, but over the past many weeks unseasonal rain has severely damaged the wheat crop. This is also a trigger for enhanced moisture content”. “These are difficult days for farmers and not being able to sell their produce, defeats the very purpose of guaranteeing a minimum support price to farmers,” she added.

Source:: Indian Express