New Delhi, August 9
With an eye on the assembly poll Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal met Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee here today along with Mr Om Prakash Chautala of Haryana and Mr Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh.

They demanded Rs 50 increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy from Rs 510 per quintal for common variety and Rs 540 per quintal for Grade A.

Urging the Prime Minister to over-rule the Rs 10 increase suggested by the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices for the forthcoming kharif season, the three Chief Ministers said the farmers should be paid the paddy price according to the cost of production, parity with the wholesale price index, input index and other relevant economic factors.

The CACP, they said, was totally divorced from ground realities the farmers are facing all over the country.

The meeting assumes significance as the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, a key ally giving outside support to the NDA government at the Centre, has been successful in securing the demands of the state.

Despite the demand of the Chief Ministers, the Centre finds itself in a piquant situation as the Food Corporation of India godowns are flooded with foodgrains.

The Union Finance Ministry is also facing a serious problem as it has to set aside an additional amount of Rs 30,000 crore for foodgrain storage alone.

The FCI will have to bear a carrying cost of Rs 2,200 per tonne per year for these stocks. Along with this the food subsidy bill has gone up by at least Rs 600 crore this year.

The Punjab Chief Minister also stressed the need to start timely procurement by the FCI and other procurement agencies to rule out any possibility of distress sale by the farmers.

During the last kharif season paddy procurement commenced with effect from September 21, though the paddy started arriving in the market from the beginning of the month.

Till 1993-94 kharif procurement used to commence from the September 1, but thereafter the dates were occasionally postponed, which was against the interest of the farmers.

The absence of the procurement agencies in the first three weeks of September for want of a formal Central notification of commencement of procurement from September 1 will cause serious hardship to the farmers, who are forced to carry out distress sale of paddy at prices far below the MSP.

Mr Chautala said he said agriculture was not a profitable profession as the cost of agricultural inputs was increasing day by day.

Mr Badal reiterated that the paddy and rice specifications should be finalised by the Centre in consultation with the governments of the paddy-producing states.

He emphasised the need to devise such specifications which are in accordance with ground realities.