NEW DELHI: Amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis when many countries are facing food shortages, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged the World Trade Organisation(WTO) to allow India to export food grains from its public stockholding. According to the WTO norms, export from the public stockholding is not allowed as these are procured at subsidised rates.
“There is a hesitation in WTO that the grain so procured can’t be brought to the market to export. If this is allowed, then the problem of hunger can be addressed in other countries,” Sitharaman said at a seminar on ‘strengthening global collaboration for tackling food insecurity in Bali, Indonesia.
“Through the world food programme we are able to give the amount which they may want but that is not the end of the story. Besides this, there are other countries also which need to sell food grain to others which are in dire need,” she added.
The world programme should not just focus on wheat, rice or a few pulses; it should look at coarse grain too, said Sitharaman. Focusing on finer grains is giving lifestyle diseases because of excess gluten, she added. 2023 will be celebrated as the International Year of Millets and India is a major millet-producing country in the world.