Minister for Power R. Kamalakannan accused Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi of threatening the chairman of the Food Corporation of India for offering to help the Union Territory in procuring paddy, at the special session of the Assembly on Wednesday.
In a suo motu statement after tabling a resolution declaring Karaikal district and Bahour region as a Special Protected Agricultural Zone, Mr. Kamalakannan said the Lt. Governor threatened the official after the FCI chairman agreed to procure paddy in consultation with the Cabinet during his recent visit to the U.T.
He also accused the Lt. Governor of instigating the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to prevent the FCI from going ahead with procurement.
Giving a detailed response, Mr. Kamalakannan, who holds the Agriculture portfolio, said the government had been trying to procure paddy from farmers at the minimum support price fixed by the Centre. The marketing committee had stopped procurement of paddy for want of funds for the last several years.
Distress sale
In the absence of procurement by the government, farmers were selling paddy for ₹15 a kg when the MSP fixed by the Centre was ₹18.17 per kg.
After these attempts failed, the government tried to sell an unused vacant land owned by the marketing committee to GAIL, a Central government undertaking. GAIL agreed to buy the land for ₹12 crore. The government’s plan was to use the amount for paddy procurement but that too was opposed by the Lt. Governor, the Minister said.
As a last resort, the government started talks with FCI for initiating paddy procurement. “The Chief Minister and myself met FCI chairman recently here. He found our demand genuine and agreed to procure the rice. In two days, the Lt. Governor called the FCI official and threatened him. Her only aim is to prevent the government from doing anything good for the people.”
Intervening, Social Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy said the conduct of Ms. Bedi was unbecoming of a Lt. Governor. “I sometimes think about the need to continue as a Minister when my hands are tied,” he said.
The government had not been able to provide salary to hundreds of workers in cooperative societies because of objections raised by the Lt. Governor.
