Mr.
Deputy-Speaker, Sir, I have heard the loud voice in which the hon. Member from
Punjab has spoken. If that were to be the voice in which a representative of
the Punjab farmers should speak in Lok Sabha, our voice should be even louder.
The reason is that the pathetic condition of the farmers in Andhra Pradesh
cannot be explained. Andhra Pradesh holds the second place in production of rice
after West Bengal. West Bengal is producing 155 lakh metric tonnes of rice and
Andhra Pradesh is producing 145 lakh metric tonnes. The storage capacity that
we have is so little that after purchasing the paddy from the farmers, they are
putting it in the open120 area
or in the elementary schools or in the community halls as there is no space
available. I am happy that140 (1)
we have got a good Minister who is very sensitive in this regard and
immediately he has responded to it by allowing the private sector to construct
the storage capacity of 151 lakh metric tonnes under public-private
partnership. I am not jealous of Punjab. I always support farmers. The worry is
that Andhra Pradesh is given permission for 6 lakh metric tons of storage
capacity while Punjab has got permission for more than 70 lakhs.
For
the last six months, we have been making our representation before the Minister
of Agriculture, the Finance Minister, and the Prime240 Minister. We have been telling them that
the paddy got discoloured because of the heavy rains. All that we want is that
boiled rice must be permitted to be exported so that this discoloured rice can also
be exported in280 the form of
boiled rice. There is a demand for (2) this outside the country. All of
them were very sympathetic. They agreed to give permission for export. Six
months have passed and almost all the paddy has gone out of the hands of
farmers. It has gone into the hands of rice millers. Now about 40 days back,
they have permitted 10 lakh metric tonnes to be exported. But the disgusting
thing is that this whole quantity of 10 lakh360
metric tonnes could not be exported just because of mishandling of the issue by
various Ministries. We are not able to give an answer to the farmers in Andhra
Pradesh.
The
hon. Minister was kind enough to tell us that another 20 lakh metric tonnes of
rice will be permitted to be exported. There is a stock of more420 than 50 lakh metric tonnes of rice lying
with the rice millers and the farmers in Andhra Pradesh. What can we do with
that rice when there is no storage (3) capacity? The Food Corporation of
India will not purchase it and the millers will purchase it from the farmers
only for Rs. 200 less than the minimum support price. The480 net effect is that in this season the
farmers of Andhra Pradesh have lost Rs.1500 crore. That is the reason why they
committed suicides. On the contrary, there are occasions when they transferred
the wheat from Punjab to the godowns of Andhra Pradesh, where there is no
consumption of wheat, only with a view to vacate the godowns in Punjab. We have
not raised our voice as high as they have done. I think in this House the only560 solution is to raise the voice as much
as one can and only then one will be able to get things done. Sir, it is very
unfortunate. I am only speaking from my heart.
Sir, the Chief Minister of Punjab600 has met the hon. Prime Minister and the
hon. Prime (4) Minister has directed me. About two weeks back, I had a
discussion with the officers and the Ministers of Punjab. We have to manage the
entire country as a whole. Fortunately, the production has gone up. The minimum
support price has gone up. This is not a small issue. Within five years, the minimum
support price has been doubled. That is one of the reasons why the procurement
has gone up. Hon. Members were telling about the buffer norms. There are no
maximum buffer norms; there are only minimum buffer700 norms. It depends on the season and the
availability on quarterly basis. It also depends on how much we have720 to give to the States. That is why,
there are higher buffer norms. There have been seasons when buffer norms have
come down; there have been seasons when buffer norms have gone up. I am
discussing with the Chief Minister of Punjab.
Recently,
five special teams were sent to Punjab to see the situation there. A senior
officer of the level of Executive Director has been posted at Punjab. Even (5)
today we have no problem in accepting rice from Punjab but I understand their
problem with regard to wheat. Punjab wants that all the wheat produced should
be moved out of Punjab but we have also to look at Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and other States which have also840 started producing wheat. Sir, I assure
the hon. Member that we will take all steps to see that no food grains rot in
any State. With regard to damage to food grains, I wish to bring to the
attention of the House that due to strong measures taken by the Government of
India during the last five years, the damage has come down. We should not be
carried away by Media propaganda. I have got the data which I am placing before
the House. The damage to food grains in (6) the FCI godowns has come down
below one per cent. I am placing the data before the House, and if we have any
doubt, we can verify it. What I960
am saying is, we are taking all measures. All the FCI godowns are computerised
and every day I get data980
with regard to the stock position of each of the godowns. Each State has been
allocated godowns based on certain norms. For the procuring States, the norm is
their three years’ procurement, and for the consuming States, the norm is their
four months’ need of the public distribution system. The hon. Member has a
genuine complaint because when we first allotted 70 lakh tonnes to Punjab, it
was on the basis of this norm. In Punjab, the procurement is done by the
Government agency and hence we have got the data. We, therefore, allotted them
70 lakh tonnes. 1080 In the
case of Andhra Pradesh, procurement of paddy is (7) done by the rice millers
and not by the Government. In Andhra Pradesh, the direct procurement by the
Government and the Food Corporation of India is very small.
I
had a1120 discussion with the
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, in the presence of Members of Parliament
representing Andhra Pradesh, and we decided to increase the capacity of Andhra
Pradesh. We have given 50 lakh tonnes to the States as per direction of the
Supreme Court. We had accepted the verdict of the Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court desired to allocate 50 lakh tonnes to the 170 poorest districts. We are
taking all precautions so that our farmers get a1200 better price. All their products should be procured.
In the case of implementing the minimum support price, it is the duty of the
State Governments to implement it. Fortunately, I visited an agriculture market
in Punjab. There I found that farmers are getting the minimum support price. I
do not (8) have any complaint about that. When I went to Andhra1260 Pradesh, there were complaints. I have
discussed it with the State Government.
Mr. Chairman, Sir, the purpose of
regulating the1280 teacher
education system is to ensure quality of teachers in the education system. In
view of the Supreme Court’s judgement, the minimum qualification for
appointment of teachers in schools laid down by the Council has become
redundant. Therefore, this amendment has come to clarify that the Act applies
to schools, school teachers and to the minimum qualification for appointment of
school teachers, so as to have uniform standards of teaching in all schools in
the country. Education being in the Concurrent List, the issue of consultation
with the State Government on the proposed amendment in the Act was necessary
which the Minister has done. But the main question, for which the West Bengal
Government had gone to the Court, is1400
(9) still there. Are you going to prepare a model or are you going to enforce
a set of rules? That is the main question which needs to be deliberated.
As
I was going through the amendments that were sought in1440 the Rajya Sabha, the Government has
already incorporated the definition of ‘school’ and some other issues which
were there. Another amendment that has been put forth is that the minimum
qualification of a teacher referred to in the first proviso shall be acquired
within the period specified in this Act. So, these are certain amendments which
have been incorporated after deliberations in the House. The basic question is
that lack of qualified teachers is a cause of concern throughout the country.
Are you going to create or facilitate more numbers of Teacher Training
Institutes? Are you going to encourage the (10)
State Governments and private parties to establish more numbers of teacher
Training Institutes? I would like to mention here that the Right to Education
Act prescribes the norms of one teacher to every 30 students at the elementary
level.1579
