Price rise may 'affect results'

RAIPUR, Nov 19 (PTI, UNI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today admitted that the issue of price rise could affect the results of the Assembly elections in the four states "up to a certain extent".

Talking to reporters at Mana airport here, he said he had convened a meeting of Chief Ministers to discuss the issue and to solicit suggestions to arrest the price rise.

Admitting that Ms Mamata Banerjee had demanded the convening of the meeting of Chief Ministers to control the prices of essential commodities, the Prime Minister clarified that Ms Banerjee had not issued any kind of warning to the government over this issue.

In fact, he said, the Trinamool Congress leader had already announced continuation of her support to the coalition government at the Centre.

Asked for his reaction to the new slogan of the Congress, "We need onion, not Pokhran", Mr Vajpayee said: "In fact, we need both Pokhran and onion".

Mr Vajpayee said the Essential Commodities Act would be amended during the winter session of Parliament to ensure easy availability of essential commodities.

A bill, to be introduced in Parliament to amend the 1952 Act, would also incorporate salient features of the Essential Commodities (Special Provisions) Act, 1981, he said.

The Essential Commodities (Special Provisions) Act, 1981, was extended from time to time.

It was last extended through an ordinance in 1997 which lapsed recently, leading to charges by Opposition parties that it had led to a sharp rise in the prices of essential items like potato, onion and pulses.

Blaming previous governments for the present economic crisis having a bearing on the price situation, he said the government had taken bold steps to ensure the availability of essential commodities at normal prices.

He said the financial crunch would not come in the way of modernising the country's weaponry and defended the decision to go nuclear.

Justifying the Pokhran explosions in May this year, Mr Vajpayee told reporters here that the nuclear tests were carried out as the government accorded top priority to the country's security.

Rejecting Opposition charges that his government had failed on all fronts, the Prime Minister said his top priority was the country's security which, according to him, had been achieved after the Pokhran tests.

Mr Vajpayee maintained that New Delhi would not succumb to any pressure from any country to change its nuclear policy.

Mr Vajpayee said he was "fully satisfied" with the performance of his government in the past eight months.

Cotton yield to touch new low
From Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service

KOTKAPURA, Nov 19 — With nature playing a villain time and again in this season, cotton production is likely to touch a record low of five lakh bales in Punjab.

Punjab, which once used to have pride of place on the cotton map of the country is fast losing that status as a result of decline in the production of "white gold" (cotton) for the past six years.

This town, known as the biggest cotton market in Asia, used to be covered with cotton around this time every year. It was then difficult to find a vacant patch in the market. But the cotton arrival scene in this market is poor in this season.

According to figures made available to this correspondent by traders, only 100 bales of cotton arrived here today against 1,000 bales that arrived on the same day last year in this market. In Punjab, last year the production of cotton was more than seven lakh bales.

The drought-like conditions during the cotton sowing period in the state, shortage of certified seeds, repeated attacks by the "mighty" American bollworm and untimely rains at the time when the crop has started ripening have led to unexpected fall in the production of cotton in Punjab which had produced 26.35 lakh bales in 1989-90 and this is a record.

Mr Ashok Kapur, vice-president of Northern India Cotton Association Limited, told TNS in the entire north zone comprising Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan the production of cotton this year would be around 23 lakh bales as compared to 23.87 lakh bales last year. This estimate was made despite the fact that there was large-scale reduction in the area under cotton crop in the state this year as compared to last year.

According to the November 15 figures, the arrival trends at major cotton markets of Punjab are 1,000 bales daily in Abohar as compared to 1,200 bales last year, 400 bales in Muktsar against 700 last year, 250 in Malout against 600 last year, 150 in Gidderbaha against 300, 350 in Mansa against 900 and 100 in Bathinda against 400.

Cotton trade sources said last year up to November 8 about 23,000 bales arrived in the markets of the northern zone but this year the figure of arrival could not cross the 15,000 mark.

This season certain cotton markets in Punjab are receiving only a little cotton. As many as 45 ginning and pressing mills have been closed in the state in this year apart from the 120 mills that were closed last year due to less production of cotton.

Mr Kapur said as per estimates farmers of the state had suffered cotton production loss to the tune of more than Rs 1,000 crore while the state government lost more than Rs 20 crore in the shape of sales tax due to less sale and transaction of cotton in Punjab as compared to the previous years.