Meeting to resolve paddy procurement issues remains inconclusive

A meeting of Ministers and officials here to resolve issues related to paddy procurement remained inconclusive Tuesday.

The meeting drew considerable attention over the ongoing dispute between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India over the PM SHRI scheme.

The meeting, held at the Ernakulam Guest House, was attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies G.R. Anil and Minister for Agriculture P. Prasad and Minister for Electricity K. Krishnankutty.

The meeting was called off after Mr. Vijayan insisted on inviting mill owners, despite the clarification that the meeting was intended solely for Ministers and officials.

Instead, a separate meeting involving representatives of mill owners will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

Emerging from Tuesday’s meeting, CPI Ministers denied that the disagreement over PM SHRI had any connection to the cancellation of the meeting.

Mr. Prasad stated that the issues concerning paddy procurement would be addressed at Wednesday’s meeting.