Sugar import scam alleged, Pawar denies

New Delhi: The Opposition, even while grilling the Central Government in the Rajya Sabha for the rising prices of essential commodities, alleged “scam” in the imports of sugar. Sharad Pawar, Union Minister for Food and Agriculture, rejected the Opposition’s allegation.

It was while replying to a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the spiralling prices that a united Opposition, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties, alleged a “great scam” in the imports of sugar.

Sharad Pawar countered the charge by contending that the Government has not imported “even a single kilogramme” of sugar. Pawar’s reply provoked noise in the House, forcing adjournment thrice on February 3, 2010, on issues related to rise in the prices of fuel or food.

Vrinda Karat (CPM) alleged that government agencies played a “dubious” role by not importing sugar and leaving the imports to the private parties.

In the last one year alone, the prices of sugar in the retail market more than doubled, and the current prices are over Rs 40 a kilogramme.

The reply by Sharad Pawar, which lasted about one hour, was interrupted several times by a slogan-shouting Opposition, which charged the minister with not addressing the specific concerns that the Opposition parties raised regarding the rising prices of sugar as well as of the food items distributed through public distribution system (PDS).

Sharad Pawar, in his reply, claimed that prices of a few of the essential commodities such as pulses, onion, flour and potato have dropped and said the Central Government had raised the minimum support price (MSP) for rice and wheat by over 70% in the last 5 years.

He said the Central Government has taken many measures to check the rise in prices of essential commodities and is ready to take more steps in this regard since the spiraling prices of essential commodities is a matter of “serious concern.”

While the minimum support price for rice and wheat and rice has been increased considerably over the last 5 years, the issue prices for the public distribution system were staying at the same level since 2002. As a result, Pawar told the Rajya Sabha, the food subsidy, which was Rs 19,000 crore 6 years ago, has risen to over Rs 60,000 crore now.

The Union Minister for Food and Agriculture said the stocks of foodgrains continue to be comfortable, with 226.52 lakh tonnes of rice and 206.23 lakh tonnes of wheat – and this is more than the buffer stocks.

Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP leader L K Advani indulged in verbal exchanges over what Advani termed as “secret talks” on Kashmir and also on the implementation of one-rank-one-pension scheme for the personnel of the armed forces.

Manmohan Singh accused Advani of trying to create a “rift” between the defence service personnel and the government, after Advani alleged that the promise made in the 2009 Union Budget on the one-rank-one-pension scheme for ex-servicemen had not been implemented fully.

The Prime Minister insisted that the government has implemented whatever the Finance Minister had promised in the Budget.

L K Advani referred to a report in the Newsweek, which quoted sources in India and the United States as saying that India and Pakistan have begun “secret, back-channel talks” over Kashmir, and demanded an explanation from the Prime Minister.