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| Sunday, 18 September 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Unprecedented response for Govt paddy purchasing scheme by Deepal Warnakulasuriya The People's Alliance (PA) Government's scheme to purchase paddy directly from the farmers was the most successful paddy purchasing scheme so far that any government has accomplished. The Government has spent Rs. 1324 million to purchase paddy only in the Maha season 2004-2005 making it the biggest ever amount which a regime has so far allocated for this purpose. Black market
The Government allocated Rs. 745 million by the second week of September to purchase paddy from paddy farmers to prevent them from selling their harvest to the `black market'. According to Government Agents of several districts, they are struggling with store facilities to purchase paddy need for this season due to the unexpected success of the last season. Most of the GA's stressed that the Government had been capable of winning the farmers' confidence and almost all of them had sold their harvest to the Ministry run paddy purchasing centres last Maha season. Polonnaruwa Government Agent J. R. Wijethilake told the `Sunday Observer' that they had purchased 12,600 metric tons of paddy so far and the amount of Rs. 183 million which they had been given would not however meet the demand of the season. He further added that the Government would be taking necessary steps to solve the storage problem immediately. Good quality harvest Anuradhapura Government Agent U. D. Yapa said this season they had received Rs.400 million as they requested and by last week they had purchased nearly 3200 metric tons of paddy. He briefed that Eppawala, Shrawasthipura, Rajanganaya specially, and almost all the areas in the district had recorded a good and quality harvest this season. He also believed that the Food Department would come to their rescue to empty their stores soon. Meanwhile, Agriculture Ministry sources revealed that the World Food Program (WFP) had an ongoing agreement to purchase paddy from the Ministry. Therefore, they hope the stores would be empty soon and necessary space would be received for the Yala crop. An official from the Agriculture Ministry said that the Freedom Alliance Government had spent Rs. 1324 million only for the last Maha season which the UNP regimes had never spent in total. He said that the UNP had no right to talk about paddy farmers as they had done nothing for them. He further reminded that it was the UNP regime which legislated to sell out several government-owned rice mills, regional offices of the Paddy Marketing Control Board (PMCB) in 1990. Political affiliations The Ministry spokesman also explained that the Hasalaka Rice Mills Complex, Anuradhapura Rice Mills Complex, Kachchigal Aru Rice Mill and the Regional Offices of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa and numerous equipment owned by the Board are among those sold out and leased out on political affiliations. He also questioned about the PMCB built 278 paddy stores, 26 main rice mills, heavy and light vehicles and several other resources it had. "It was during the UNP regime, that the state bank loan interest for
paddy purchasing was raised from 3 per cent to 21 per cent in 1978", he
added. Meanwhile, Finance Ministry officials confirmed that they were ready
to provide necessary funds to run the scheme smoothly. |
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