Govt decision to import key food items raises several questions on timing

These decisions have also have been criticised for the likely negative impact on farmers, who are facing hard times due to the lockdown and subsequent fall in demand

Amid record procurement of grains which, according to some estimates, has infused over Rs 150,000 crore into the rural sector during the Covid lockdown, three import decisions taken during the same tenure by the Modi government have come in for severe criticism from most quarters.

These decisions, largely related to import of agriculture goods produced in India, have been criticised for their timing and also for the likely negative impact on farmers, who are facing adverse times due to the lockdown and the subsequent fall in demand.

The decisions to allow import of 500,000 tonnes of maize, 10,000 tonnes of