The Dindigul police have arrested two people, including a Christian pastor named Sudarsanam, on Thursday in connection to the death of a 38-year-old female police constable named Annai Indra.
As per reports, the woman was a police constable at the All Women Police Station in Dindigul. She was married to a man named Palraj, who lived in Pattiveeranpatti. Two years ago, they had separated as her husband was opposed to her idea of converting to Christianity. As a result, she had deserted him and started living on rent in Nandavanapatti Treasury Colony with her two daughters, sister Vasuki and pastor Sudarshanam.
A couple of months ago, Indra applied for voluntary retirement, owing to ‘health reasons’. She had gone on a long leave since November 16. When the cops went to serve her order on Wednesday, they discovered a foul smell at the house. On further probe, following the directions of senior officers, the cops found the decaying body of Indra. She had died on December 7 and her decomposed body was covered with a cloth.
She is asleep, claimed family members of Indra
As bizarre as it sounds, her sister and daughters insisted that Indra was asleep and that she would wake up soon. Her family reportedly kept her corpse in the house under the belief that she would magically ‘resurrect’ from the dead.
The police initiated an investigation into the case and conducted the post-mortem on the spot. The cops booked pastor Sudarsanam and the woman’s sister Vasuki under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 176 (Omission to give notice or information to public servant), 304A (causing death by negligence), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating). Pastor Sudarsanam who has been arrested is suspected to be the brain behind the conversion.
While the investigation is on, the body was sent to the Government Hospital for post-mortem.
In a strange incident, the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has reportedly disappeared from the African talent show that he created, signalling the increasing difficulty he is facing currently for taking on Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to the reports, Jack Ma was replaced as a judge in the final of Africa’s Business Heroes, a television contest for budding entrepreneurs and his photograph was removed from the judging webpage. Apparently, he has also been conspicuously left out of a promotional video.
The grand finale of show ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’ took place in November, shortly after the Chinese tech billionaire had criticised China’s regulators and its state-owned banks.
Following his speech, the Communist Party of China had reacted strongly against Jack Ma’s statements, leading to the suspension of Jack Ma’s $37bn initial public offering of his company Ant Group by the Chinese authorities. Following the suspension of the IPO, Jack Ma has not made any public appearance. The authorities have also announced anti-monopoly investigations into Alibaba.
Amidst action by Chinese authorities, Jack Ma is replaced by Lucy Peng
A spokesperson for Alibaba, which was founded by Ma, said, “Due to a schedule conflict Mr Ma could no longer be part of the finale judge panel of Africa’s Business Heroes earlier this year (2020)”. However, this explanation is not believed by several. It is unthinkable that he would give up on a program of which he was the face due to a scheduling conflict.
As Syed Akbaruddin observed, this is like Amitabh Bachchan not hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati due to a ‘scheduling conflict’, indicating that there was more to Ma’s absence than meets the eye.
One of the contestants participating in the competition had said she had been star-struck when she pitched her business to Ma in an earlier round. “You can’t imagine,” she said.
However, by the time of the final, Ma had been replaced by Lucy Peng, an executive at Alibaba. “There was something going on in China with Jack Ma or something, so (Lucy) also came in as well,” the contestant said.
Jack Ma’s souring relationship with the Chinese govt
The 56-year-old Jack Ma was once a poster boy for the communist regime, however, the relationship turned sour after he became more vocal against Chinese leadership. Ma is said to have made around £35billion from creating Alibaba, the Asian version of Amazon.
Despite being one of China’s most successful businessmen, Ma has been clashing with the regime over his call for more of an open and market-driven economy. The English teacher turned business magnate is viewed as a rock star in the country that has pushed the Chinese leadership to be fearful about the billionaire’s influence.
China, under President Xi Jinping, has been ruthless against its critics and has unleashed a drive to arrest all the dissidents of the regime. In March a property tycoon had disappeared after he called President Xi Jinping a ‘clown’ for his handling of the coronavirus crisis. Ren Zhiqiang a billionaire financier, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after he ‘voluntarily and truthfully confessed’ to various crimes of corruption.
Similarly, Xian Jianhua, a billionaire financier, was snatched from a Hong Kong hotel in 2017 and taken to the mainland.
Agrima Kaur Khan, who until recently was known as Agrima Joshua, has issued another statement weeks after begging profusely for forgiveness from the Shiv Sena, the MNS and the NCP during the controversy she was involved in after mocking the Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial in Maharashtra. Her latest statement was made in response to the arrest of ‘comedian’ Munawar Faruqui.
Agrima Joshua said, “Comedian Munawar Farooqi is in jail at Tukoganj Police station in Indore. This Government is afraid of clowns. That’s how fragile their narrative is.”
Agrima’s comment on Munawar Faruqui
It is pertinent to mention here that Agrima Joshua had profusely apologized to the NCP, Shiv Sena, the Congress party and the MNS after the studio where she delivered the controversial joke was vandalized by MNS workers. Demands of her arrest were also made on social media after her video went viral. Even when she was trolled by Shiv Sainiks, Agrima claimed that she was being targeted by BJP workers in the guise of Shiv Sena. This was before she ultimately apologized to the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.
Now that the Munawar Faruqui is not being troubled by one of her favoured parties, it appears that Agrima Joshua has found her voice again. Faruqui is in the news after he was allegedly roughed up for making disparaging remarks about Hindu Gods and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He was then taken to Tukoganj police station along with the organisers.
Amusingly enough, it has not been a good day for Agrima Joshua herself. Kashmiri separatists took offence at one of her jokes which insulted the Indian Army because it, apparently, trivialized their ‘struggle’. She was called out for being insensitive and ‘dumb’. Later, the organizers of her show apologized for the jokes.
Islamist hate preacher Zakir Naik in his latest video has supported the torching and destruction of the ancient Hindu temple in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, stating that temples should not be allowed to be constructed in an Islamic country.
The endorsement from the radical Islamist preacher came days after the historic Krishna Dwara temple was razed down and set ablaze by a frenzied mob of hundreds of people led by local Muslim clerics from radical Islamist party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.
It is also worth noting that Naik’s rants against the Hindu temple comes on the heels of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Mahmood Khan said on Friday that his government will rebuild the Hindu temple using provincial government funds.
Islamist fanatics raze down the temple in Pakistan
Videos circulating on social media showed several Islamists using hammers to damage the temple walls of the recently constructed Krishna Dwara temple, situated in Karak’s Teri union council. The fanatics who were led by a local cleric and supporters of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party (Fazal ur Rehman group) set fire to the building, then razed it down with hammers and crude weapons. The video which went viral on social media showed how the miscreants surrounded and vandalised the temple for hours.
Notably, the temple was demolished allegedly in the presence of district administration officials.
Reportedly, the temple was built after Guru Shri Paramhans Dayal was laid to rest at the site in July 1919. However, the Muslim residents of the area had closed the temple after the Partition in 1947. The temple was destroyed under similar circumstances in 1997 as well. In 2015, the Krishna Dwara temple was restored on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Rohit Kumar, an advocate and the Hindu activist said the residents violated the agreement by vandalising the temple. Earlier, Hindus and the Muslims of the village had signed an agreement on December 22 agreeing that the renovation of the temple would not exceed the specified area.
However, the Muslim residents of the area had alleged that that the Hindu community was illegally expanding the temple building. They said the matter was reported to the police too.
According to the Muslims, as police did not take action against the Hindus, they themselves took the law into their hands and demolished the temple.
On Friday, India formally lodged a protest against the wanton and malicious destruction of Hindu temple by several Islamic fanatics in Pakistan’s Terri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on December 30. Concerns were conveyed to Pakistan through diplomatic channels.
Constructing a Hindu temple in an Islamic state is ‘haram’: Zakir Naik
While Zakir Naik backed the demolition of the Hindu temple in Pakistan, this is not the first time that the Islamist hate speech peddler has spread venom against constructing Hindu temples.
Earlier in July 2020, Naik had voiced his discontent with the Pakistani government for allowing the construction of a Hindu temple. Naik said that the Imran Khan government has committed a sin, as it is haram (forbidden) according to Sharia (Islamic law) for an Islamic nation to pay or donate to a worship house of a non-Muslim, be it a temple or a church.
Speaking at a live session on his Islamic YouTube channel, BelievingBeings, the terror influencer, who fled India to Malaysia in 2016, said that all Muslim scholars, imams and ulemas stood united in their views that “a Muslim cannot donate, support or construct a house of worship of non-Muslims”, and by using Muslim taxpayers money to fund the Krishna temple in Islamabad, Pakistan is committing shirk (sin).
To buttress his claim, Naik stated that all Muslim scholars, imams and ulemas are of the same opinion and there are several fatwas (rulings) regarding this. He further added that the Quran, the holy book of the Muslims also discourages cooperation “in sins and transgressions”, therefore, if any Muslim associates with the building of any non-Muslim worship place, he is committing a sin.
Taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), the Income Tax department has launched an inquiry over the funds allegedly routed by actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh from the UK/Canada for bankrolling the ongoing farmers’ protest in India.
India’s Income Tax Dep’t has launched a probe into Punjabi label company Speed Records and singer Diljit Dosanjh for allegedly routing funds from the UK to sustain the ongoing farmer agitation.
Besides Dosanjh, the role of Punjabi music label Speed Records in financing the farmers’ agitation has also been under the scanner of the Income Tax department.
A complaint was lodged by Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) on December 27, based on the research shared by one Vijay Patel who had alleged that a company named Speed Records has been prudently involving in money laundering and routing activities and funding anti-farmer law agitations and its links with pro-Khalistani organisation Khalsa Aid.
LRO Complaint alleges Speed Records kept registering and disbanding itself under various names
It has been alleged by the LRO in its complaint that Speed Records has been registering itself on and off from the year 2011 to 2020, under various names, but either with the same address registered or same personnel operating as office bearers, indulging in suspicious activities detrimental to Indian interests, involving Indians too in activities such as anti-CAA riots as well as farmers’ agitation.
“It is to be noted that the curious case of this vanishing companies and bobbing up of its office bearers in subsequent in later companies show an elaborate network established with a well-thought-of stratagem to hoodwink Governmental Authorities there and also facilitate convenient mode for funding and supporting anti-national and secessionist activities in India,” the complaint filed by LRO said.
A private limited company named Speed Records, UK was incorporated with UK Director Kaka Singh Mohanwalia alias Sundip Singh Khakh, which was a dormant company. One Mr Dinesh Auluck who is the owner of Speed Records India resigned from his office on 5 August 2013 just a month after the establishment of the company. The company was later dissolved on 9th September 2014.
Similar irregularities were also witnessed in other shell companies put up by suspected individuals. Another company with the name Speed UK Recs Ltd was incorporated on 21st June 2013. The same Mr Dinesh Auluck joined this company on 8th July 2013 and resigned from his office in just 12 days on 20 July 2013. This company, too, was dissolved on 3 February 2015.
Likewise, the complaint alleged that Speed UK Records Ltd. was another company incorporated on 19 August 2013 and dissolved on 31 March 2015. Here, listed office bearers were Sundip Singh Khakh and Dr Sarpreet Singh Mehat.
The curious case of a shell company owned by a certain Diljit Singh who shares his birthday with actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh
The complaint also raised aspersions on the involvement of actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh in enabling the laundering and routing of money to support the ongoing farmers’ agitation in the country. It alleged that another company named Famous Std. Ltd. was incorporated on 9th August 2016 and dissolved on 16th January 2018 with Directors Sundip Singh Khakh and one Mr Daljit Singh.
Interestingly, Mr Daljit Singh was born in January 1984, the same month and year when actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh was born. However, the complaint adds that it is unclear whether both the persons are one and the same.
Additionally, the complaint states that Diljit Dosanjh receives an honorarium for music events conducted through his Saanjh Foundation, which does not have an FCRA Registration to operate in India.
It is also pertinent to note that Diljit Dosanjh has been a vocal supporter of the ongoing farmers’ protests and has also donated Rs 1 crore to the farmers’ cause. It is also submitted that the IT sleuths had had already raided the houses of popular Punjabi singers Diljit Dosanjh, Miss Pooja and Gippy Grewal and the premises of two Punjabi film-producing firms in the year 2012 and they are alleged to have been associated with Dharam Seva, Speed Records and other dubious companies in the UK.
Sukhbir Singh Badal’s alleged connection with Diljit Dosanjh’s NGO Saanjh Foundation
Furthermore, the complaint says that concerning the registered office address of Saanjh Foundation, a defamation case has been filed against former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal wherein the counsel of the complainant had contended in the court that Sukhbir Singh Badal had allegedly contended his address as house number 256, Sector 9, Chandigarh. Intriguingly, this address is also the registered office address of Saanjh Foundation.
While misled farmers, driven by the lies peddled by various opposition parties and the anti-Modi brigade, continue to protest, assuming that Modi government will ‘abolish MSP’ through its new farm laws, the central government’s ongoing paddy procurement has surged past the last year’s total procurement by more than 23 per cent.
According to official data, the Food Ministry has purchased a record high of 487.92 lakh tonnes of Kharif (monsoon) paddy till December 31 as against 390.56 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The food ministry’s official projections show the government’s total procurement for summer paddy (2020-21) will likely touch 74.2 million tonnes, which is a remarkable increase of 18 per cent since last year as the total quantity procured during 2019-20 was 62.7 million tonnes.
Moreover, nearly six million farmers across the nation have already been paid minimum support prices to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore for these purchases. “About 62.28 lakh farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing KMS procurement operations with MSP value of Rs 92,120.85 crore,” an official statement said.
Interestingly, while mostly Punjab farmers are seen protesting against the new agricultural reforms introduced by the Modi government, the official data reveals that out of the total purchase of 487.92 lakh tonnes, Punjab has contributed 202.77 lakh tonnes, which is 41.55 per cent of the total procurement.
Other than this, until December 31, 2020, a quantity of 75,03,914 cotton bales valued at Rs 21,989.94 crore have been procured, benefitting 14,69,704 farmers. Moreover, the government agencies had also procured 251633.79 MT of Moong, Urad, Groundnut Pods and Soyabean with MSP value of Rs 1346.76 crores, benefitting 1,35,813 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Congress instigating farmers by peddling blatant lie that Minimum Support Price will be abolished
It almost becomes imperative to note here that opposition parties, especially the Congress has been consistently misleading the farmers in Punjab by sharing some blatant and outright lies against the new farmer laws. Amongst other things, the Congress has been instigating the farmers that the central government, through its news farm laws, would abolish the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Which is an outright lie as seen by recent procurement of Kharif crops as per MSP.
The farmers have been, in turn, agitating at the outskirts of the national capital against Modi government’s farm laws assuming that the new laws mean that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) would be abolished.
Mandis will remain, MSP will be unaffected: Modi government
The central government has clarified a number of times that they are neither abolishing APMC Mandis not repealing MSPs. Both the claims are lies. In fact, the Congress, in its own 2019 election manifesto, had promised to abolish the APMC Act altogether. However, the Modi government has only amended the APMC Act.
Modi government has not repealed the APMC Act in its entirety. The new laws passed by the current government provides the farmers with an additional avenue to sell their produce besides the Mandis. The provisions in the bills exempt transactions done outside the physical premises of APMC (agricultural produce market committee) Mandis from any “market fee or cess or levy” imposed by state governments, enabling the farmers to get full price for their produce.
PM Modi, government ministers and BJP leaders have asserted again and again that MSPs will continue. Rahul Gandhi and Congress, however, have been peddling the same lies again and again.
Meanwhile, six rounds of talks between the government and nearly 40 farmer unions have so far failed to end the deadlock, even though the govt has agreed to two demands of the farmers, to not penalise farmers for burning stubble under the new air pollution law, and to continue giving electricity subsidy for irrigation.
Dr Mudassir Nisar Lambe, a trustee at Mumbai’s Mahim Dargah and a member of the Waqf Board, has been accused of raping a woman. Consequently, a case has been registered against him by the Mahim Police. According to some reports, the victim is a Shiv Sena leader while others identify her only as a social worker.
Maharashtra: A case has been registered against Dr Mudassir Nisar, trustee of Mumbai's Mahim Dargah and member of Waqf Board for allegedly raping a woman.
The Navi Mumbai based social worker alleged that the incident occurred in January 2020. However, she waited till October for him to keep his word of marrying her. When he did not, she went forward with the FIR. As per reports, Nisar had administered an injection which had turned her semiconscious. Then, he had proceeded to rape her.
The 33-year old victim alleged that when she threatened to file an FIR, he promised that he would marry her and later threatened her with dire consequences. Nisan has been booked on charges of rape, causing hurt by means of poison and criminal intimidation.
The victim also said that her husband had divorced her when he found out about the incident. A video is also reported to have gone viral where the victim says that she will end her life if denied justice.
Even as the country is gearing up for providing the coronavirus vaccine to citizens to limit the spread of the Chinese pandemic, opposition parties have already begun to politicise the issue of vaccination drive. On Saturday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav dragged politics in that much-needed vaccination drive in the country saying that he will not get himself vaccinated as of now as it is ‘BJP’s vaccine’.
Saying that he cannot trust ‘BJP’s vaccine’, Akhilesh Yadav tried to create panic in the society by stating that he would get vaccinated when his government will be formed after the next election and claimed that he would give free vaccines to all.
“I am not going to get vaccinated for now. How can I trust BJP’s vaccine, when our government will be formed everyone will get free vaccine. We cannot take BJP’s vaccine,” said Samajwadi Party chief and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.
I am not going to get vaccinated for now. How can I trust BJP’s vaccine, when our government will be formed everyone will get free vaccine. We cannot take BJP’s vaccine: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav#COVID19pic.twitter.com/qnmGENzUBH
At at time when the political parties needs to be united and dispel rumours about the misinformation about vaccines ahead of the drive, it is rather shocking that Samajwadi Party chief has indulged in low-level politics by discrediting a vaccine that has been duly developed and tested enough.
The political statements by Akhilesh Yadav may fuel misinformation pertaining to vaccination drive which may lead to a common man staying away from the vaccine at a time when vaccinating against the Coronavirus is considered essential to fight the pandemic.
Coronavirus vaccine to be rolled out soon
The insensitive statement by Akhilesh Yadav comes amidst the centre’s plan to roll out immunisation drive for the coronavirus. Just yesterday, India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) had approved the emergence use of Covishield (developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca) vaccine to be used in the country.
The subject expert committee (SEC) of the drug regulator has recommended the emergency-use authorisation (EUA) of the vaccine and stated that two full doses of the vaccine must be administered to an individual with a gap of 4-6 weeks. Moreover, the individual will be provided information about the vaccine in the form of a factsheet, prior to inoculation. SEC also recommended that the manufacturing company will have to submit reports of ‘adverse incidents’ every 15 days.
It is notable that while Akhilesh Yadav claims he will provide for free when he comes to power, union health minister Harsh Vardhan already declared today that the vaccine will be free for all across the country. He also asked the people to not believe in rumours on the vaccine. “I appeal to people not to pay heed to rumours. Ensuring safety & efficacy of vaccine is our priority. Different kinds of rumours were spread during polio immunisation but people took the vaccine & India is now polio-free,” the minister said.
The Modi government is planning to immunise 30 crore people, classified under the priority population, within the month of July. As such, a dry run has been scheduled today in at least three ‘session sites’ in every state capital and districts with poor logistical support.
The objective of the government, behind this exercise, is to assess the on-field situation of the vaccination process. At the same time, a total of 96000 vaccinators have been trained to execute the inoculation programme. The government has directed all states to be ready with the list of health workers, who would be vaccinated first.
‘Ichchhadhaari protester’ Yogendra Yadav has revealed that the so-called ‘farmer protesters’ will target Republic Day if their demands are not met. Krantikari Kisan Union President Darshan Pal also made the same announcement on Saturday.
Yogendra Yadav said, “If our demands are not met till Jan 26, then farmers will hold ‘Kisan Gantantra Parade’ in Delhi. We appeal to farmers from adjoining areas of national capital to be prepared and request every farmer family of the country to send a member to Delhi if possible.”
If our demands are not met till Jan 26,then farmers will hold 'Kisan Gantantra Parade' in Delhi. We appeal to farmers from adjoining areas of national capital to be prepared & request every farmer family of country to send a member to Delhi if possible:Yogendra Yadav,Swaraj India https://t.co/k9UmCQUk1cpic.twitter.com/a1olrK32Ko
Darshan Pal announced that the protesters will hold a ‘tractor Kisan Parade’ on the 26th of January in Delhi. They will also march towards governor houses in different states, he announced. It is pertinent to mention that Darshan Pal was one of the founders of People’s Democratic Front of India (PDFI). PDFI is a constituent of the Maoist movement, the left-wing terrorism in the country.
According to a study prepared by Dr Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Institute in Hyderabad, PDFI was a part of Tactical United Front (TUF) formed by the Maoists, to consolidate and expand its position. Darshan Pal was the convenor of the 51-member executive committee of PDFI. Apart from Darshan Pal, other founder members of PDFI included known anti-National and anti-BJP names like Varvara Rao, Kalyan Rao, Medha Patkar, Nandita Haksar, SAR Geelani, BD Sarma etc.
Meanwhile, Yogendra Yadav has been constantly threatening the government. It is unclear precisely when he became a farmer leader. The government maintains that he is not and has not been allowing him to participate in the negotiations between the government and the protesters. On Friday, the ‘Ichchhadhaari protester’ announced that the protesters will hold a march at Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) on January 6. He also added that they will shortly announce a date on when they would move forward from Shahjahanpur border.
The government of India has said that Bonus announced by various state governments over and above the minimum support price fixed by the central govt for procurement of crops have been putting adverse impact on procurement from farmers. Sources in the union govt informed OpIndia about this after the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting for the central govt to pick up the paddy the state government has procured under the central pool.
CM Bhupesh Baghel writes to PM
The CM had written a letter to the PM on 30 December, informing the state govt has purchased around 47 lakh tonnes of paddy from 12 lakh farmers, out of the total amount of 60 lakh tonnes approved for Chhattisgarh. But, the Food and Public Distribution department of the Govt of India is yet to approve the transfer of the paddy to the Food Corporation of India under the central pool.
CM Baghel wrote that as they are unable to transfer the stock to FCI, the warehouses in the state are filled with paddy, and the stock may got damaged if it is not lifted soon, and the distribution of rice will also be delayed. Saying that livelihoods of 21.52 lakh farmers in the state will be impacted due to this, the CM requested the PM to approve the procurement of the paddy by FCI from the state govt.
Bonus above MSP increases subsidy burden
Responding to the letter by the Chhattisgarh CM, sources in the ministry informed OpIndia that the reason behind not-approving the procurement under the central pool is the additional bonus announced by the state govt above the MSP.
State Govts often declare state bonuses for procurement of crops, which is a monetary scheme to incentivise their farmers over and above MSP declared by the Government of India. In some states, the bonuses are crop-specific whereas in another these are of generic form.
According to the GOI, it is perceived that declaring a bonus over MSP distorts the market and cultivation patterns at the cost of other crops. Since the procurement under the price support scheme (PSS) is open-ended, procuring agencies like FCI are forced to procure quantity much more than the requirement under the central pool, thereby increasing the subsidy burden on the union government.
MOU with states limit purchase under central pool if bonus above MSP declared
The GOI has tried to contain such a tendency, and with a view to have a uniformity in procurement across the country, has devised an MOU to be followed by DCP (Decentralised Procurement) / Non-DCP States, as the case may be.
The provisions at Point No. 3 of MOU of DCP States mention that that “In the situation of the state giving bonus/ financial incentive over and above MSP, surplus stock exceeding the State requirement under NFSA/ OWS shall be treated to be outside the Central Pool”.
Similarly, the provision under point number 4 of the MOU of non-DCP states mentions that, If the State Government announces bonus/ financial incentive, in direct or indirect form, over and above MSP, FCI will not take part in the procurement operations in the State concerned; and State Govt. will have to mobilize resources and take care of the entire procurement operations in the State on their own, including the arrangements to be made for the storage of procured food-grains. With respect to such States, FCI in consultation with the Department of Food and Public Distribution, will decide the quantum of the rice and rate at which the stock to be taken from the concerned State in that Marketing Season and shall restrict the central pool procurement to that extent. The rest of the stock procured by the state shall have to be disposed off by the State Govt. concerned at its own risk and cost”.
These provisions make it clear that if any state declares Bonus for crop procurement, the FCI will not pick-up stock above the quantity specified for the central pool. The balance quantity will have to be purchased by the state governments on their own.
MOU provisions implemented for all states which have declared bonus
Accordingly, these provisions are being implemented for the states which have announced bonuses. For example, Madhya Pradesh had announced incentive of Rs 160 per quintal over and above MSP of wheat in Rabi Marketing Season 2019-20 under their own scheme named “Jan Kishan Samridhi Yojna”. Since the state govt had declared bonus without prior consent of GOI, a decision was taken by GOI to restrict the total procurement in central pool to 67.25 LMT which was the total quantity procured two years back, i.e., in RMS 2017-18, the year in which no bonus was given.
The same happened with Chhattisgarh, which has been consistently declaring bonus/incentive on Paddy over and above MSP since 2016-17. And due to this, the central pool procurement of paddy from the state in the previous years since 2016-17 has been limited to 24 Lakh tonnes. This is as per established rule which is applicable to all the states, as whenever the states give incentives or bonus, the central pool procurement gets limited.
In accordance with the MOU provision, the central govt had limited the central pool procurement of paddy from the state at 24 lakh tonnes, as the state had announced an enhanced MSP of Rs 2500 per quintal during Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2019-20, which is more than the MSP announced by GOI. The state govt had sought relaxation from the MOU provision for delivering the excess quantity to the central pool, but the ministry had declined the request.
As a result, the state govt had announced in November that for the KMS 2019-20, paddy will be procured at the MSP declared by the GOI, so that entire procured quantity can be delivered to the central pool. But, the state govt subsequently announced the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojna, and under this scheme, crop-specific bonus to acreage was provided to farmers for various crops like paddy, maize, soybean, pulses, groundnut, seam seed etc for KMS 2019-20. State Govt has declared a similar incentive scheme for KMS 2020-21 also.
States like Kerala, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu etc have been also declaring bonus/ incentives over and above MSP of paddy.
Bonus Declared By State Governments (Wheat & Paddy)
FCI has been of the view that all sorts of such schemes or incentives have to be seen as bonus whether in direct or indirect form, as it is paid over and above MSP without prior approval of GOI. The Ministry is also of the view that giving bonus/ incentive leads to huge increase in procurement in the state leading to surplus stock in central pool and therefore any relaxation in MOU has not been agreed to, in general, on a number of occasions.
However, DBT transfer to all farmers without linkage to any crop is the only scenario which can be treated as crop neutral and not falling in the category of direct or incentive. But as the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojna announced by Chhattisgarh govt is linked to 14 specific crops, it has been considered as just another form of Bonus, and hence it has attracted the provisions of the MOU.
