Letters: An appetite for votes

Apropos the report “UPA govt takes ordinance route to food security” (July 4), the urgency to promulgate an “ordinance” when the Bill is before the House, is not to feed the “starving” but to satisfy the ruling coalition’s appetite for votes. Agricultural policies, including the procurement of agriculture products, their storage, supply chain network and public distribution system (PDS), have completely failed to benefit farmers or consumers. It is still not clear how the government proposes to meet the increased needs of proper storage and supply. Unless the infrastructure and an efficient PDS are put in place, this security will remain only on paper. The move is purely a political one to put the state and the next government in a Catch-22 position.

N Ramamurthy Chennai

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