WTO Bali meet agreements may hit food security scheme: Raman to PM

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take a position at the on-going WTO ministerial conference at Bali that India would not compromise on the food security interests of hundreds of millions of farmers, poor and marginalized communities that are dependent on public distribution system.

"I am of the firm view that food security is the most fundamental to a welfare state and clearly non-negotiable", he said in a letter written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Pointing out that India should not back down on this position and should not be open for any negotiation, Singh said the "peace clause" that has been proposed by the US and European Union is time bound and not linked to a permanent solution. It also places onerous requirements for data that India has to gove and leaves us open to being dragged into the dispute settlement mechanism both under the agreement on agriculture and the agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures, he added.

Under these circumstances, the chief minister said, any dilution of the above position will be completely unacceptable to the people of Chhattisgarh and also people of India.

Singh said Chhattisgarh has led the country in a protecting the interests of its farmers with highest minimum support price for paddy, a well structured procurement programme that reaches right upto the smallest farmer and an expanded Public Distribution System (PDS) that is acknowledged to be the best in the country. The state is also the first to enact a food security legislation, he pointed out adding that much of this will stand jeopardized if India signs off it right to procurement from farmers or agrees to any limits that are imposed under the proposed agreements.

"Any agreement in Bali would also seriously impair the government's ability to implement the National Food Security Act', he added.

Singh expressed his disappointment with the Centre's approach in dealing with trade negotiations. "On such a sensitive and strategic issue impacting a huge section of our population a wide consultation with various state government and chief ministers was necessary", he added.

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