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Chief Ministers stress Centre-state coordination for smooth commodities movement

Chief Ministers of various states freely expressed their observations and criticisms and suggestions on the prise-rise issue at the CMs conference in New Delhi today.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu suggested rationalisation of the exim policy so that shortages of essential commodities like onions did not recur.

He suggested enacting of a legislation to prevent retailers from charging exorbitant rates, augmentation of storage capacity with a chain of cold storages and warehouses. Effective coordination among the ministries of food, civil supplies and commerce was needed with a built-in mechanism based on incentives and input subsidies for crops including cereals, pulses and vegetables.

He called for setting up of a central price monitoring cell to provide advance information about demand and production details of various food crops in the country and abroad alongwith national wholesale and retail price information.

A price research and monitoring cell has been constituted in the state to study the reasons for the sudden escalation in prices of essentials in 100 centres in the country and to suggest remedial measures, he added.

Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel suggested bringing onions and potatoes along with other crops under minimum support price scheme. It opposed dilution of powers of inspecting agencies to send right signals to the traders and enforcement agencies on the seriousness of the government to hold prices of essential commodities within reasonable limits.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Miniser Kalyan Singh called for tightening the provisions of Essential Commodities Act and strenghtening the market intelligence network to regulate prices.

He said that the storage capacity should be increased in Uttar Pradesh with an object to reduce wastages. He suggested that the Central government must enforce the Oils and Oilseeds Control Order again to check the speculation in these commodities.

Singh said new ration cards in booklet form would be provided to each family by the end of January, 1999.

On the action taken to check the price-rise, he said the government had launched a massive programme against hoarders and black marketeers since October 30. In the first 25 days of this month, the government had conducted 21,243 raids and goods worth Rs 103.6 million was seized. While 713 licences were suspended, another 137 licences were cancelled during the period, he said.

Kerala's Food Minister E C Nair demanded amendments in the exim policy to regulate exports of foodgrains and called for increasing food subsidies in order to strengthen the Public Distribution System.

He said export of foodgrains and other commodities should be permitted only after fully meeting the domestic requirement.

He said the present PDS should be strengthened with supplies of pulses and spices through fair price shops in addition to wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene.

He suggested matching financial assistance to the state governments for strengthening their market intervention operations. He also wanted removal of restrictions on inter-state movement of essential commodities.

West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu called for better coordination between the central and state governments to monitor price situation so that prices of essential commodities did not go beyond the means of the common people.

He also demanded reintroduction of the lapsed Essential Commodities (Special Provisions) Act of 1981 without dilution in the winter session of Parliament. Fourteen essential commodities should be provided to the people through the public distribution system.

There should be immediate restriction on export of essential items if these were found to be in short supply in the country. There was an urgent need for scientific prediction about production trends of such items. The centre and the states should cooperate in this regard, he added.

Basu suggested evolving a ''socially desirable cropping pattern''. Supply of better quality seeds, balanced use of fertilisers and augmentation of storage facilities with emphasis on cooperative ownership. The costs could be shared equally between the Centre and the states. A committee comprising representatives from the Central and state governments should submit a report on the action plan within two months, he added.

Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal urged the Central government to bring back the edible oils and oilseeds under the purview of the Essential Commodities Act so as to have effective control on their prices.

He suggested that as and when the prices shoot up alarmingly, central agencies like Nafed should import or arrange bulk supply of commodities like onions and potatoes to the distribution agencies of states, besides marketing them directly from their outlets.

He suggested that a buffer stock of even perishable commodities like onion and potatoes may be attempted by central agencies for effective market intervention.

Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta called for regular trade between the northeastern states and the neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh for the benefit of the people living in that far-flung region of the country.

He said when onions were being imported from Iran and Jordan and prices were between Rs 50 and Rs 60 per kg, this item was available in neighbouring Myanmar between Rs 10 and Rs 15 per kg. The people of Assam could have purchased onions at much cheaper rates had there been regular trade between that country and India, he added.

Fish, a common food item in Assam, could be made available in plenty from Bangladesh, if restrictions on its import from that country through Karimganj district was removed. Trade and commerce would flourish if the trade routes with the east were reopened, Mahanta said.

Orissa Chief Minister J B Patnaik said price fixation of free trade items under the Essential Commodities Act had largely been ineffective and suggested that it should be done at the production centres and wholesale trade points.

The consumer states could then fix prices, giving allowances for transportation, handling, storage and trade margins.

He wanted the Centre to fix a minimum support price for these commodities for protecting the interests of the farmers as well as a minimum sale price to guard against abnormal price hikes.

He said the state has launched a major agriculture production programme with an emphasis on cultivation of vegetables, especially potatoes and onions. The Centre should provide liberal subsidies for developing cold storage facilities. At present, the state has 50 cold storages with a total capacity of 82,000 tonnes.

Subsidies available from the National Horticulture Board and the food processing ministry were ''difficult to access''. The Agriculture Production and Implementation Corporation of Orissa should be recognised as their outlet in the state so that entrepreneurs need not to come to Delhi for processing the cases, he added.

UNI

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