The rice notification - DGFT again amends
Please see TIOL-DDT 733 02.11.2007 for a chronological tour of the rice prohibition notification. We had mentioned that the Notification No. 38(RE-2007) had been amended five times in 15 days. The end is nowhere in sight. It is amended once more.
Now rice brought into the godowns of Kakinada city till 10.10.2007 (as certified by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh) shall be allowed to be exported.
You will understand that this rice had been languishing in the bureaucratic corridors for the last 20 days and even now it may not be nirvana for the rice. Questions can still be posed. What is the city of Kakinada? And what does certified by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh mean? Who is the State Government? Is it the revenue officer, the Collector or the Governor or by virtue of the powers wasted in the government, will an authority be notified to issue such certificates?
If the rice that reached Kakinada on 10th October can be exported, why not the rice despatched to Kakinada before 10th but reaches after the deadly date?
More amendments are sure to come and in the meanwhile, rats may have a field day with all the rotting rice. When are we going to realise that notifications play havoc with peoples' lives and they deserve to be better drafted?
Is the government pro farmer? A friend of mine who holds a university Ph.D , but who is basically a farmer tells me that the concept that the government is agriculture friendly is a lot of bull. If market conditions provide an opportunity for the farmer to make a good profit, the government steps in and ensures that he doesn't, but if the situation is bad, the farmer has to look for his own rope to hang on to commit suicide and there is no government help!
Take the present situation. Rice has been collected from the farmers on the assumption that it will be exported. Now the poor farmers have no idea about the manoeuvres of the mandarins of Delhi and for them what it means is that they don't get paid for the rice they sold to the exporters, because somebody in Delhi decided that rice cannot be exported. And the rural Banks don't even have a subsidy scheme to provide for a cheap rope for the farmer to hang from.
DGFT Notification No 46 (RE-2007)/2004-2009, Dated: November 2, 2007