Left seeks free foodgrain for poor

Faced with back-to-back farmer suicides in West Bengal in three days, the CPI(M)-led Left Front today again urged the Centre to distribute surplus food grain free of cost among the hungry poor in the country to relieve them of the additional burden of the rising prices of food.

The Left Front committee, in its meeting today, claimed the central stock of foodgrain stood at 47.5 mt, more than double the required buffer stock of 20 mt.

To press for their demands, the Left parties would soon submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Front Chairman Biman Bose told reporters here.

The Left leaders also took strong exception to the recent comments by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that it was not possible to distribute foodgrain for free to the poorest instead of allowing it to rot due to lack of storage facility. Pawar was responding to a recent recommendation made by the Supreme Court on this issue.

Revolutionary Socialist Party leader and member of the Left Front pane;, Khsiti Goswami, said Pawar and other policy makers of the government should realise that “we are sitting on a powder keg. The situation is alarming. We must act fast.” RSP is a constituent of the Left Front government.

Meanwhile, the Left leaders also decided to take necessary steps in tackling the ongoing drought situation in West Bengal, where 11 of the 18 districts are currently facing the crisis.