Pawar caution on food Bill: Dont repeat old blunders

We need to learn important lessons and not repeat the blunders of (the) past, Pawar is learnt to have written.

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Calling the proposed food security law as one of the most important commitments of the UPA government to the country,Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,cautioning against repeating the blunders of (the) past when the government had taken over the domestic grain trade in the early 70s.

I feel that procuring nearly two-third of marketable surplus will take us to a situation akin to 1972-73 when the government had taken over grain trade which had proven to be a grave mistake. We need to learn important lessons and not repeat the blunders of (the) past, Pawar is learnt to have written.

Sources said he wrote to the PM ahead of the July 11 meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food Security that approved the draft food security Bill prepared by the Food Ministry.

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In his letter,Pawar also threw his weight behind three major issues adequacy of foodgrain to meet universal entitlements,the effect of ramped up procurement in the domestic market,and sustainability of food subsidy Bill in the long term highlighted by the chairman of the PMs Economic Advisory Council,C Rangarajan,who scrutinised the proposals of the National Advisory Council and objected to the elaborate provisions recommended by it. Pawar is leant to have said that issues raised in Rangarajans report remained pertinent enough to be given due consideration.

The minister has also cautioned against the impact of the proposed law on crop diversity given that the foodgrain requirement for the proposed law would put a premium on augmenting the production of cereals.

He is learnt to have voiced his concern about the sole stress on the distribution of foodgrain under the public distribution system (PDS) in the discussions over the proposed law while ignoring the importance of increasing the foodgrain production emphasised by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The approved draft National Food Security Bill,2011,contains only one sub-section 31(1)) for Revitalisation of Agriculture of the total 41 sections. Pawar is learnt to have highlighted that the plan allocation of the Agriculture Ministry stood at around 30 per cent of the total food subsidy and underlined that it might further reduce to less than 25 per cent of the food subsidy bill after the enactment of the law. We need to firm up our plans to increase investment in agriculture sector, he added.