Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has released a Central government letter amid the ongoing controversy over incentives for paddy, after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin publicly asked whether the Centre was ready to make the communication public.
In her statement, Sitharaman said ensuring food security requires constructive, continuous and positive engagement from all stakeholders in agriculture. She alleged that the Chief Minister and his party were continuing what she described as a pattern of creating “false narratives”.
She warned that dependence on imports for essential food items could expose India’s food security to external shocks and price volatility, which she said was not suitable for a large country like India. She added that a similar situation exists in pulses, and argued that farmers can get better prices in crops where there is a gap between demand and supply.
According to her, the information sent to states was meant as a call to share responsibility for national food security, and she claimed many state governments had understood this in the spirit of cooperative federalism. She also asked the Chief Minister to explain to the people of Tamil Nadu why, instead of moving towards self-reliance in pulses and oilseeds, opportunities were being given to foreign interests.
Sitharaman said that if the letter had strengthened the state government’s argument, it would have been released by the Chief Minister himself. She added that her side had no hesitation in providing the letter’s link and said any Chief Minister concerned about national interest would have welcomed such constructive suggestions.
