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'We will protect the Indian farmer as long as we can'

According to Shanta Kumar, Union Minister for Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, all is well… notwithstanding the fact that farmers are have been facing considerable financial hardships and many of them have actually been driven to suicide.

The former Himachal Pradesh chief minister feels that the Indian farmer need not lose sleep over the lifting of import restrictions following the implementation of World Trade Organisation pact with effect from April 1.

In an exclusive tete-a-tete with rediff.com's Special Correspondent Onkar Singh, the food minister assured that the government of India has put in place enough safeguards to ensure that the Indian farmer's produce is not sold at cheaper rates in the domestic market.

"We have virtually stopped the import of wheat. The same is true of rice. Yes, therer was some panic amongst those dealing in vegetable oils, but we have taken care of that as well," he says.
Excerpts from the interview:

The Indian farmers are worried lot because they feel after the lifting of the import restrictions on wheat and rice and other agricultural produce from foreign countries might be sold at cheaper prices in India. What is your opinion on this?

Yes, it is true that with the lifting of the import restrictions, there is some anxiety amongst the Indian farmers. However, it is slightly exaggerated. The Government of India has taken note of the views of the farmers and we have already taken a few steps to ensure that the agricultural produce of the Indian farmers is not sold at cheaper rates in the Indian market.

What are the steps that you have taken to pacify Indian farmers?

We have taken a number of steps. Between 1996-1998 India imported over 300,000 tonnes of wheat to meet the domestic demand.

We felt that after the bumper crop of wheat in India in the last few years this was no longer necessary and not in the interests of the Indian farmers.

Hence we have imposed heavy import duty on the import of wheat so that it is not sold cheap in the Indian market. We also imported large quantities of rice during the same period, but even that has been stopped.

What are you doing about the overflowing Food Corporation of India godowns?

Till March 31 this year we exported over 2.4 million tonnes of wheat through State Trading Corporation, Metals and Mineral Trading Corporation and some other organisations.

We have set up an export target of 50 million tonnes of wheat this year.

We also plan to export 1 million tonnes of rice during the current financial year. Already more than 200,000 tonnes of rice has been exported.

Sugar was another grey area. We imported sugar also in the past to meet our domestic demand. But now we have enough sugar to export. We can export 1 million tonnes of sugar and earn foreign exchange. Let me assure the Indian farmers that we are going to safeguard their interests.

But how long can you keep on protecting the Indian farmer?

As long as possible. I must add that the Indian farmers would have to produce better quality of wheat and rice and other agricultural produce so that we could compete in the international market.

Improvement in the quality is a must.

Why are people dying of hunger when the FCI gowdons are overflowing the wheat and rice?

I do not think people are dying of hunger in any part of the country. I do, however, admit that there are more than 50 million people who are hungry and are living below poverty line.

What happened to various schemes announced by Prime Minister Vajpayee to give food to the poor?

All these plans are working. We have the Antyodaya Anna Yojana which is being implemented in all the states. Under this scheme people living below poverty line are given 25 kg of wheat/rice per month at the cost of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice.

Under the Annapurna Scheme, all people above the age of 65 will get food free of cost. In areas hit by drought, the states have initiated 'food for work' programmes. Under this scheme all those who work would be given food at 50 per cent of the total cost.

Over 500,000 tonnes of wheat/rice has been released to the drought-hit states for free distribution. 200,000 tonnes of fodder for the animals was also distributed free of cost.

But has it reached those it was meant for? Couldn't there have been pilferage somewhere down the line?

The Centre releases the food to the states and it is for them to ensure that the distribution is done and nobody takes undue advantage of it.

Some mismanagement can take place. I do not deny that. But I can assure you that we would not allow anyone to go hungry or die of hunger.

Have you received any complaints from any quarter regarding non-distribution of food meant for free distribution in the drought-hit states?

It would be wrong to say that I have not received any complaints. Nor do I claim that the public distribution scheme is totally fault-free.

This is the joint responsibility of the Centre and the states. I think there is a need to improve the public distribution system to ensure that any kind of leakage is plugged.

The apple growers of Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir are upset over the government move to allow import of foreign apples and other fruits in the Indian market. How would you pacify them?

We have increased in the import duty on all the food items to ensure that the imported food products are not sold cheaper than the Indian produce.

The packaging of the American apples might look attractive. But at the price of Rs 120 per kilogram only those who are affluent can afford to buy them.

Even I was temped to buy the American apple to find out why it is being sold at a higher price. I can assure you that the quality of apples produced in Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir is much better than the imported ones seen in the domestic market.

The craze for foreign fruit might last for sometime before it dies a natural death.

Is there a reason to panic?

None whatsoever. The Government of India has already imposed 50 per cent duty on the import of fruit and if necessary we would increase the duty.

In this respect we would like to point it out that the government increased the import duty on edible oils four times in last sixteen months to protect the Indian edible oil industry from collapse.

The apple growing farmers are also complaining about the quality of the sprays made available to them. What are you doing about that?

The Government of India would ensure that the apple growers of Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir do not suffer for lack of quality sprays. We are doing our best to give them better spray so that their crop could be saved from pests.

With another bumper crop of wheat and rice around the corner how do you propose to handle the additional quantity of foodgrains when the FCI godowns are already overflowing?

We have been working on this for sometime. We have 168 tonnes -- 8.4 million tonnes of wheat and rice -- already in our cold storages. The bumper crop would add another 20 million tonnes to our existing stocks.

We would need storage facilities of 100,000 tonnes. We have already identified the places and the states where these storage facilities have to be created. We have asked private parties to come forward with proposals.

We have asked them to construct cold storage facilities and assured them that the government would hire their godowns for next seven years.

Another scheme is build/own/operate under which the private operators would do the entire thing themselves.

We have talked to the financial institutions who have agreed to give loans to the private sector in constructing godowns in all parts of the country.

Even in the Union budget the finance minister referred to this problem. The food ministry is working round the clock to create additional storage facilities.

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