New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS) A short duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha on rising prices of foodgrains ended abruptly Tuesday as the opposition staged a walkout, saying it was not satisfied with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s reply detailing the steps taken by the government to control the situation.
As soon as Pawar finished his hour-long reply at 7 p.m. after the four-hour discussion, S.S. Ahluwalia of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stood up to say it was inadequate.

“The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government had said it would control prices in 100 days (after its return to power in May). What is the ground reality? We are not satisfied and are walking out,” Ahluwalia declared as he led his party MPs out of the house with the entire opposition following.

Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan, who had said during the reply that he would permit members to seek clarifications on it from Pawar, immediately adjourned the house.

During his reply, Pawar admitted that the situation was “very serious” as it affected each and every household, particularly the middle class.

“It is a very serious situation. We had discussed the issue in parliament in August and there is no remarkable change in the situation” largely because of the 23 percent deficient monsoon and 316 districts across 13 state being declared drought affected, he said.

He described as a “matter of concern” that food inflation stood at 17.5 percent while the overall inflation rate was at 1.34 percent”.

“The process of improvement has started but it will take time,” he added.

Pawar sought to shift the blame to state governments for not taking advantage of the central scheme to make wheat and rice available in the open market and thus bring down prices.

“We have made available 10 lakh tonnes of wheat and 10 lakh tonnes of rice for the states to sell in the open market but the response has been very, very poor,” he said.

“As of December 6, only 21,992 tonnes of wheat and 149,176 tonnes of rice has been lifted. It is the responsibility of state governments to take advantage of the scheme and improve market conditions,” the minister said.

“If the states don’t take the wheat and rice, FCI (Food Corporation of India) will float an open tender for their sale in the open market,” he added.

“All that we are asking the states to pay is the MSP (Minimum Support Price) plus transportation charges,” Pawar said.

“The MSP of wheat has gone up from Rs.640 to Rs.1,100 (per quintal). After paying taxes and meeting other expenses, the cost of wheat comes to Rs.2,000 (per quintal). In the case of paddy, the MSP has gone up from Rs.560 to Rs.1,000 (per quintal). The final cost works out to Rs.1,600 (per quintal). This definitely has some impact on prices in the open market,” Pawar explained.

Detailing steps to provide foodgrain at affordable rates to vulnerable sections of society, he said the subsidy on the public distribution system (PDS) and the targeted public distribution system (TPDS) was now a whopping Rs.60,000 crore from Rs.19,000 crore when he first assumed office in 2004.

This enables the government to provide every month 35 kg of wheat and rice at Rs.2 and Rs.3 a kg for wheat and rice, respectively, to the below poverty line (BPL) families in the TPDS category, the minister said.

He pointed out that the ban on wheat and rice exports had contributed to controlling their prices in the open market but said the ban on futures trade in items like rice, sugar and potatoes had not had any impact on their prices.

“We asked for a report on this and it came negative. If the market improves, we might take a policy decision,” Pawar added.

Dealing with the rising prices of pulses, four million tonnes of which India imports annually, he said this was because of “problems” in the major supplying countries.

“The major supplying countries are facing problems and that is reflected in our country. The availability will improve in two months after the harvesting begins,” Pawar said.