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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Centre, Bengal spar over food for poor

Centre, Bengal spar over food for poor

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published Published on Jul 11, 2012   modified Modified on Jul 11, 2012
-The Telegraph

Union food minister K.V. Thomas today claimed the Bengal government had distributed only a small fraction of foodgrain specially allotted last year for 10 backward districts, drawing a sharp rebuttal from the state, as another confrontation with the Centre unfolded over figures.

Thomas’s comment came days after Union home minister P. Chidambaram had voiced concern over Bengal’s “culture of violence” and cited casualty figures that were contested by the Mamata Banerjee government.

Thomas said the Bengal government could utilise only 12.7 per cent of the 2.6 lakh-tonne special allotment for the last financial year. “The total foodgrain allotment for the 10 districts was 2.6 lakh tonnes during 2011-12 and the off take was just 12.7 per cent of the quota,” said Thomas, who was in the city for a seminar on food safety organised by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

“The window will remain open till September this year,” he added.

State food and supplies minister Jyotipriya Mullick said the Centre was attacking the Bengal government based on “wrong facts”.

Mullick said the state had already “lifted 50 per cent” of the allotment under the special quota for below poverty line residents of the 10 districts, though he admitted Bengal’s performance wasn’t up to the mark when it came to foodgrain allotted for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries.

“The state was allotted 98,400 tonnes of rice and 61,400 tonnes of wheat under the special allotment for the BPL category. The allotment was for 10 backward districts. We have lifted 50 per cent of the foodgrain. For the AAY, 55,800 tonnes of rice and 43,600 tonnes of wheat were allotted. We have lifted 20 per cent of this allotment,” Mullick said. “So, how can the Union minister say that we have lifted only 12.7 per cent of the total allotment?”

People who are considered poorest of the poor get foodgrain at a subsidised rate under the AAY scheme the Centre launched in 2000 to create a hunger-free society.

Officials at Writers’ Buildings said the Centre had allotted the special quota last November, and preparing the list of beneficiaries takes time. Till April, the state could not lift much of the allotment, they said, but the process had been speeded up from May.

Mullick said the state had asked for 5.59 lakh tonnes of additional rice at a subsidised rate for distribution at Rs 2 a kg to needy people in Jungle Mahal, closed tea gardens and areas affected by cyclone Aila. “But the plea has fallen on deaf ears while all other states have received additional allotment of subsidised grain. Now the Centre has started attacking our government based on wrong facts.”

On Thursday, Chidambaram, who attended an event in Calcutta, said violence had claimed 82 lives in the state in the first half of 2012, though he didn’t specify if the figures he cited were directly related to inter-party clashes.

Shortly after Chidambaram’s comments, panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said in 2012, five people had died in Bengal because of political clashes.

A day later, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she had written to Chidambaram contesting his figure and asking him what his source was.

The Telegraph, 11 July, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120711/jsp/nation/story_15715438.jsp


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