I shall now come to the food problem. What is the food problem? Sir, the food problem stated in very simple terms, is this. In India, even after 59 years of freedom, we are not able to supply our people with adequate quantities of food grains at reasonable prices or at prices which are within their reach. That is the food problem. It appears to be a very simple problem! But actually it is a very complicated @ problem and a very basic problem in the sense that food prices constitute the core of our entire price structure, and in a capitalist society where there is freedom of enterprise, the price structure or the price system governs the development of the economic as a whole! Therefore, Sir, this problem becomes (45to46) the basic problem. I do not want to attempt here any analysis of how the rising food prices affect, the various aspects of our economic life, but one broad fact has to be recognised that it due toe the failure on the part&of the government to tackle this food problem that so many complications have arisen which we are finding it is very difficult to resolve. All these have as their basic the failure of the Government to solve the food problem (70%). Now, Sir, there are two aspects of the food situation to be considered. As has been correctly stated by our hon. Minster of Food and Agriculture, one aspect relates to production and the other aspect relates to distribution or regulation of the resources that are at our disposal. Now, Sir, I will take up these two aspects separately and show where the (Government) has failed in its responsibility, where the government policies have been wrong policies or where the government has failed to work out any policy at all. Sir, the Minimum Support Price for paddy and what has been raised to unprecedented levels and I am sure, Sir, you being from Punjab will understand this more than anybody else and because of the two stimulus packages announced by the Prime Minister in December and January, the economy has now turned around in sectors like steel, cement, automobiles.
