The Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has refuted Congress President, Smt.
Sonia Gandhi’s charges of discrimination against Rajasthan in
supply of foodgrains. In his reply to Smt. Sonia Gandhi, the
Prime Minister said that not only has there been no reduction
in the entitlements or releases to Rajasthan, but the State
has in fact received special consideration from the Central
Government because of the severity of the drought it faces.
It should be our collective endeavour to focus our attention
to drought relief measures rather than be misled by media reports,
which may be motivated and unfounded.
Following is
the text of the Prime Minister’s letter:
"I have received
your letter of 7th February, 2003 regarding the foodgrain
quota for Rajasthan. I must confess to being somewhat surprised
by its contents.
First of all,
let me state that there is nothing like a "quota"
of foodgrains for drought affected states. Special allocations
of free foodgrains from the Central pool are made to the affected
states based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Drought.
This is done on the assessment of need from time to time, hence,
there is no question of a "quota".
Looking at
the severity of the drought this year, the Central Government
has constituted a Task Force under the Chairmanship of the Deputy
Prime Minister, to take decisions regarding relief measures.
The Task Force, inter-alia, has also decided on the principle
of allocation of foodgrains to the States. Accordingly the drought-affected
states have been classified into three categories based on the
severity of drought. The allocation to the category "A"
states (Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal,
areas of Madhya Pradesh other than western areas and Tamil Nadu)
has been calculated at the rate of 5 kilograms per day for 10
days a month for one person of 20% total BPL families of the
state; and in the Category "B" states (Chhattisgarh,
Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh – west, Andhra Pradesh and
Jharkhand) it will cover 50% of the BPL families. In view of
the severity of the situation in Rajasthan, it has been treated
as a Special Category State. It has also been decided that while
requirements of foodgrains for other states will be assessed
from September 2002 to June 2003, in the case of Rajasthan it
will be calculated for the period September 2002 to July 2003.
Keeping in
view the gravity of the drought situation in Rajasthan, the
Task Force had also directed that a study be conducted about
the special requirements of the State. The study has since been
completed and its recommendations will receive attention of
the Task Force very soon. In the meantime, an ad-hoc allocation
of 10.1 lakh tons of foodgrains has been made to Rajasthan,
which is higher than the entitlement of "B" category
states.
To sum up,
not only has there been no reduction in the entitlements or
releases to Rajasthan, but the State has in fact received special
consideration from the Central Government because of the severity
of the drought it faces. It should be our collective endeavour
to focus our attention to drought relief measures rather than
be misled by media reports, which may be motivated and unfounded".
