By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:On World Food Day today, the country remembers the historic trade diplomacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is behind the food security of more than 800 million poor and helpless people in India. Just two months after coming to power in 2014, the Modi government had made it clear to the WTO that there will be global trade but not at the cost of food security of India’s farmers and poor. The result of this decision is before us today.
In 2024-25, the Indian government purchased 1,175 lakh metric tonnes of food grains at the minimum support price and provided Rs 3.33 lakh crore to 1.84 crore farmers. On the other hand, more than 80 crore people are getting food grains free of cost through the National Food Security Scheme. On the one hand, the price of farmers’ production, on the other hand, the plate of the poor. The Modi government has combined both and created a huge national system of food security, said Bharatiya Janata Party State Spokesperson Satyabrat Panda in a press release.
Mr. Panda said that if Modi had not raised the objections to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, today the minimum support price of paddy would have been around Rs 3.50 per kg. But now, excluding the bonus paid by the states, the price is Rs 24.41, which is almost seven times higher than the price of Rs 3.50 fixed by the terms of the WTO agreement that Modi opposed. Even after the decision taken in Bali, Indonesia in 2013, this permanent solution to food security was not found.
Therefore, in July 2014, the Modi government refused to agree to go ahead with the agriculture agreement. Finally, in November 2014, the WTO had to clarify that until a permanent solution is found, developing countries can buy food grains at higher prices and store them in their granaries. Today, this demand is supported not only by India but also by more than 75 developing WTO member countries. India’s strong voice has strengthened the voice of farmers and food security in the developing world, said Mr. Panda.
On Independence Day 2025, the Prime Minister reiterated from the Red Fort that he will stand like a wall against any policy that harms the country’s farmers. On World Food Day, on behalf of the Odisha BJP, Shri Panda expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister and said that the strong trade diplomacy of 2014 has today stood as a historic security shield between the fields of the farmers and the plates of the poor.
