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Farmers get pre-poll doles; MSP
hiked
WSN Network
New Delhi:
Showering pre-poll sops, the Indian government has announced an
across-the-board bonanza covering commodities as diverse as sugar,
wheat, rice, mustard and masur. There was a record Rs 250 rise in
minimum support price for wheat, jacking up the support to Rs 1,000
per quintal from Rs 750 during the last rabi season. That is not
all, government may even announce a bonus for wheat cultivators who
make up an influential pressure group in the north.
But the bonanza
was not limited to wheat farmers. The cabinet committee on economic
affairs also decided to raise the support price for gram, mustard,
masur and barley. In addition, CCEA offered another helping hand to
paddy cultivators by offering them a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal at
the fag end of the procurement season. The bonus came with a ban on
nonbasmati rice exports in what is being seen as a move to maintain
a strong buffer and keep prices under check.
During the
current kharif season, the government is estimated to have procured
29.43 lakh tonnes of wheat. If it was fears of scarcity which forced
the government to offer sops for most commodities, there was also a
solution to deal with the problem of plenty in the sugar sector. A
relief package, in the name of farmers, cleared by the CCEA would
provide sugar mills more time to clear loans.
10 October, 2007
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