India has enough food stocks to fight shortage: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that the country has ample foodgrain stocks to face any shortage arising out of inadequate monsoons and that there was no need to worry on that account.

He also said that the government will take all steps to mitigate rural distress of farmers hit by the drought.

"We had record production and procurement of foodgrains in both 2007-08 and 2008-09. We thus have adequate food stocks and there is no cause for concern or fear of shortages of foodgrains in the country as a whole."

"I have, however, no doubt that we will tackle the situation effectively and resolutely. Foodgrains supply should be available in localities where there is deficiency of production in relation to demand. Also utmost care ought to be taken to deal with scarcity of fodder and drinking water," he added.

The prime minister was addressing the conference of state ministers of rural development and panchayati raj in New Delhi. Following is the text of the prime minister's address on the occasion:

He said that the rains over the past week augur well for the kharif crop and have brought cheer to large number of farmers.

However, he conceded that most areas of the country will probably still have deficient rainfall and therefore the government will have to redouble efforts to mitigate rural distress arising from the after effects of drought.

Quoting Noble Laureate Amartya Sen, he said famines are not necessarily famines of deficient production but of deficient purchasing power, "and for the first time in our history we have an opportunity to put purchasing power in the hands of most needy parts of our population through the mechanisms of National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme."

"NREGA has put a floor on rural poverty and it affords a measure of protection against natural calamities or market-induced vulnerability," he added.

He lauded the states that have made significant investments in the institutional architecture for organising the rural poor and making them creditworthy clients for banks and other financial institutions through capacity building and training programme.

He said that in these states there has been remarkable progress in terms of creation of assets for self-employment and providing sustainable livelihood particularly for women in rural areas.

He said that the government attaches the highest priority to the successful implementation of anti-poverty programmes.

Image: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Photograph: PIB