The Hindu : Double bonus for paddy, CM tells Vajpayee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 02, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Double bonus for paddy, CM tells Vajpayee

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI OCT. 1. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today urged the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, to double the bonus on the minimum support price for paddy to be procured in the coming season to Rs. 40 a quintal.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, she pointed out that Tamil Nadu had been paying a bonus of Rs.40. But now the farmers in the State would lose Rs. 20 a quintal with the State Government switching to the decentralised procurement scheme of the Centre.

"While in the normal course, market forces should determine the right price for any commodity, in the current year we have to be very sensitive to the distress situation faced by farmers because of drought. The best way to provide some genuine income support to the farmers is to give some form of bonus along with the MSP,'' she said.

Ms. Jayalalithaa also drew his attention to the "special problem'' faced by the farmers in the Cauvery delta: moisture content. During harvest of the short-term kuruvai crop, there would usually be heavy rain, with the onset of the northeast monsoon, thus increasing the moisture content in the paddy. Till last year, paddy with moisture content of 25 per cent was accepted for the kuruvai season and 22 per cent for the samba season. Under the Government of India norms, a moisture level of only 18 per cent was allowed, she noted and called for the Prime Minister's intervention to allow the farmers to deliver paddy with 25 per cent moisture content.

A proper package of relief in the current year was an absolute must. The recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices for a rollback of fertilizer prices and writing off of one-year interest dues on loans taken by farmers merited serious consideration, Ms. Jayalalithaa said.

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