The political war of words on cotton export curbs continued on Tuesday with the Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, describing the Gujarat Chief Minister Mr Narendra Modi's comments on the roll back on cotton export ban as “unfortunate” and “not responsible”.

“The Chief Minister's comment is unfortunate and it will create panic in mandis and farmers,” Mr Sharma said in a statement.

Mr Modi had said on Monday that “The notification issued today by the Union Commerce Ministry on reversal of ban of cotton exports is cheating lakhs of cotton-growing farmers of the State.”

“The notification says that the Centre will not give any new registration certificates for export of cotton. Not only that, it would also investigate the export of the commodity earlier, incorporating a clause that the registration, allowed earlier, has to be re-investigated with no time-frame,” he said.

“This new monitoring system will open doors to corruption,” the Chief Minister had said.

However, in response, Mr Sharma said, “I, as Commerce Minister, would definitely be interested to see healthy exports from India but at the same time we cannot overlook the need of the Textiles Industry.”

“Exports are done directly by the trading bodies, commodity traders, and not by the farmers. The Government is duty bound to protect the interest of famers and also to ensure that there is a healthy balance,” he said.

The Union Minister added that “Gujarat as a large cotton producer should give its inputs to the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB). I have been informed that in the last five years, Gujarat has not been represented in any meeting of CAB.”

The Government has already prompted the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to ensure that the farmers' interests are protected. CCI is, therefore, expected to make procurements in all mandis, where the prices fall below the MSP.

arun.s@thehindu.co.in

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