NEW DELHI:Opposing the Centre's decision to ban cotton exports, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying the "anti-farmer" decision was taken without consulting states.
"Narendra Modi has written a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to immediately revoke the ban imposed by the Government of India on cotton exports," according to a statement posted on his website.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification banning exports of all grades of cotton with immediate effect.
Gujarat along with Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are the major cotton producing states in the country.
The chief minister also questioned why decisions of such importance were taken without consulting the affected states. "Does the Centre have no regard for the rights of state farmers," the statement added.
Terming the Centre's decision to impose a ban on cotton exports as "arbitrary", the chief minister said that such decisions affect the economic interests of Gujarat cotton farmers the most and that the Centre must refrain from playing with their economic interests.
He pointed out that when such a ban was imposed last year, China took great advantage of this move when the immense profits could have easily gone to the Indian farmers.
A similar decision by the Centre, last year cost the farmers of Gujarat Rs 14,000 crore and a policy reversal at a later stage caused further losses when the farmers were forced to sell their cotton at throw away prices, Modi pointed out.
