Rather useless & farcical theory there. Fact is the govt has no more storage than the 50Mn odd tonnes it buys .
The total #food grain production of #India ~300Mn tonnes .The balance was always sold at market rates to primarily large corporations like @ITCCorpCom & @Cargill .
Also as far as the PDS procurement is concerned Data shows that the average quantum distributed through the system is some 10.7Mn tonnes per annum.
Where does the rest of the ~40Mn tonnes go ?
Well it rots & is generally sold off as animal feed & for conversion to alcohol.
The price control she talks of here only exists because most of the foodgrains are sold at below #MSP . If all food in #India was procured at MSP it would be unaffordable for most citizens .
Incorrect : Nobody wants to hoard because India has consistently had a surplus in foodgrains. The only hoarding happens in items which are never in surplus & also not under PDS.
Fact is the govt holds no more than 50 of the 300Mn tonnes India produces.
This is covered under the new law wherein the govt can curb stocking & order increase in distribution if the prices increase by 50% over the average market values.
While I would agree with her that a fair share of the 50Mn tonnes needs to be acquired from #Bihar as well fact is that Punjab & Haryana have held an inordinately large share of the PDS purchase since forever .
Better than not having any !
For the record the INS Jalashwa started life as the USS Trenton in 1971 , will serve the #IndianNavy for another decade at least .
At least 3 Whidbey class vessels Rushmore, Ashland & Tortuga were commissioned post 1990 .
The above again should be dependent on price , anything above $30Mn for each & it'll be better to get new built Tarlac/Moattama/Makassar class LPDs from #SouthKorea . These 11000Ton ships come at ~$60-70Mn each .
I would contest this & say that if going into the #Medical profession & taking the Hippocrates oath to serve the sick regardless of personal gain does not suit a student , he/she has no business studying medicine.
That again has to be handled by the govt in a an amicable manner by building & providing proper facilities & salaries.
The student shave to be flexible in their demands as well. You cannot expect a District health center to look like Medanta Gurgaon.
Again something the government must ensure, possibly by facilitating education loans with a moratorium on mandatory payment while in the initial ten years of government service .
Disagree ! 1) Set a limit on #MSP purchase say 5Mn tonnes . 2) Ensure all of it is purchased directly from #Farmers via #ContractFarming for @FCI_India . 3) Ensure the contracts go only to #Farmers having 5acres or less land with a total asset calculation of less than ₹10Lakh.
#MSP is necessary to uplift the downtrodden small #Farmers & hence should not be abolished . What is necessary is reformation of the system to cut out the #APMC via direct Contracts by @FCI_India under a @Amul_Coop like cooperative model to directly acquire grains from farms .
The govt of #India needs to reform @FCI_India as well , turn it from a PDS feedstock storage to a true #food corporation that can be used to sell FCI branded flour & Rice directly to consumers on market prices under the @kvicindia model .
Expand to other foods as well.
I've always maintained #India needs legislation mandating a #Defence budget at 2.5% of #GDP exclusive of pensions . This will force every govt to control populist spending for votes to help build up the Security of #India .
Absolutely , we cannot keep handing out largesse . As I keep pointing out #India spends ₹300,000cr to buy 6% of total crops on #MSP .That's 1/8th of our total receipts of ₹24,00,000cr . Guaranteeing price on all crops will bankrupt #India .
Add in expenses on subsidies on fertilizer, seeds ,free electricity etc & loan waivers & the expenses on the #agriculture sector alone is over ₹10,00,000cr .#money that comes out of the pocket of the taxpayers .
There has to be a better more sustainable way to support #Farmers.
#wheat#exports: #India to export 3.5-4 million tonnes of wheat to neighbouring countries as compared to an average of 0.2Mn tonnes per annum in the past between now & March if govt sells at international prices which are below #MSP . m.economictimes.com/news/economy/a…
If the govt absorbs the difference #India could end up exporting as much as 7Mn tonnes of #wheat . The govt needs to empty stocks at a loss after buying from #Farmers at #MSP to be able to buy more #wheat this year.
Fact is #MSP has put the nation into cyclic losses .
As yields increase it will logically not be possible for any govt to buy crops at an #MSP higher than international prices beyond a determined stock . The rest of the agricultural produce will logically have to be sold at market rates .