After pay-for-rice shock comes Paswan solace

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The flood-ravaged state received another shock on Tuesday with the Centre demanding payment for emergency food grain requested by the state government. After the issue spiraled into a controversy, Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan clarified on Tuesday evening that Kerala need not pay for the emergency grain.

The Centre had sanctioned 89,540 tonnes of rice to the state following a Kerala government plea to ward off a potential food shortage following the flood crisis. However, by Tuesday afternoon, the government received a communique from the Union Food and Civil Supplies Ministry asking the state to pay at MSP-derived rates. This will come to around Rs 25 per kilogram, State Food and Civil Supplies Minister P Thilothaman said.

According to him, the state, which is already struggling to cough up money for relief and rehabilitation, will have to shell out approximately Rs 233 crore for buying the 89,540 tonnes. The Central communication said that the state can make the payment at a later date. If the state defaults on the payment, it will be deducted from the Centre’s Rs 500-crore flood relief, he said. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan immediately sent a letter to PM Narendra Modi conveying the state’s protest.

With internal paddy procurement in doldrums due to the floods and the state facing a potential food shortage, the state government had requested 1.18 lakh tonnes of food grain free of cost as a special allotment to deal with the situation. The incessant rainfall and floods have already destroyed approximately 20,000 hectares of paddy across various districts, incurring a loss of more than Rs 280 crore.

Thilothaman said that he has not been formally informed of the Centre’s volte-face. ‘’We were given to understand that the stocks were available at the FCI godowns and we can use them. But if we don’t pay, the amount will be deducted from the Central aid,’’ Thilothaman said.

89,540 tonnes of rice sanctioned by the Centre to the state