"Although Bihar farmers producing a bumper crop (about 80 lakh tonne) this time, not a single grain of this has been bought by the Food Corporation of India (FCI)," said the Irrigation Minister of Bihar, Mr Jagdanand Singh.

The chief minister of Bihar, Mrs Rabri Devi, has decided to lead an all-party delegation to the Prime Minister on the issue.

A December 8 notification by the senior regional manager, FCI to all the districts manager reads: "It has been decided not to accept paddy from apex/societies... for which decision is awaited from headquarters. As regards voluntary levy rice, a scheme yet to be approved by the Government of India. Hence, till approval is received no rice is to be taken under voluntary levy." A copy of the notification has been made available by Mr Singh.

The transport minister who is also the former finance minister of Bihar, Mr Shankar Prasad Tekriwal, said: "The Centre has decided from day one not to purchase any produce from Bihar. Now the local leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party are making a hue and cry over the matter and showing their concern for the farmers. You know, offence is the best mode of defence."

Mr Singh pointed out that FCI has bought foodgrains from Punjab but not from Bihar because the procuring agency faces a storage problem. "In fact the Union agriculture minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, has promised us that FCI will buy our produce, but now the Centre is backing out," Mr Singh said.

As regards the country's food security for the year 2000-01, the Bihar government has pointed out that the total projected procurement of rice for 2000 is about 400 lakh tonne. Bihar has projected a 20 lakh tonne crop worth Rs 1,720 crore for this year's procurement while Punjab's projection is at 110 lakh tonne worth Rs 9,493 crore.

The FCI note also mentioned that the average procurement price for rice is Rs 8,630 per tonne while the prevailing market rate for rice is Rs 3,850-4000 per tonne. However for Bihar, the average market rate of rice has been set at Rs 6,500-6,700 per tonne.

"I would request the Centre to fix the purchase quota for all states according to their produce. If this is not done then Bihar will become a dumping ground [for other states. As of now produce purchased from Punjab, which is of sub-standard quality, are lying in the FCI godowns here and Bihar's produce, which is of top quality, is not being purchased. If this is not stopped the people of Bihar will take recourse to measures which would mean a law and order problem here. Don't blame us then," Mr Singh said.

In fact the opposition leader in the Bihar assembly and senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr Sushil Kumar Modi, also agreed that the Bihar government should impose a ban on import of foodgrains from outside.

"The FCI is unable to purchase foodgrains from Bihar since it has a storage problem. Even the Bihar State Food Corporation is non-functional. The state government has never prepared infrastructure to meet such an eventuality," Mr Modi added. He pointed out that had the government lifted its `free' quota of foodgrains for schemes like mid-day meals such problem of storage for FCI would not have arisen.