Monday, February 20 2006 14:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: As many as 2457 farmers have committed suicide between 2003 and 2005 in six states, led byAndhra Pradesh which registered 1322 cases, Lok Sabha was informed today (Feb 20,2006).

Besides AP, the other states which reported suicides by farmers during this period are Karnataka (323 cases), Maharashtra (666), Kerala (136), Orissa (five) and Gujarat (five), Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said during Question Hour.

In reply to another question, he said the Government had decided to import five lakh tonnes of wheat in order to maintain and improve the stock position.

The Minister said the foodgrain stock in the central pool was around 20 lakh tonnes below the buffer stocking norm.

There was also a decline in wheat stocks due to increased off take of foodgrains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

In a bid to rationalise the allocation of foodgrains, Pawar said the Centre had taken certain decisions in January, including reducing the allocation of foodgrains per APL family from 35 kgs to 20 kgs and raising the issue price for APL population from Rs 85 per quintal to Rs 95 per quintal.

"However, the implementation of these decisions has been postponed keeping in view representations from state governments and political parties.

"Had these decisions been implemented, the resultant savings in food subsidy in a full year would have been around Rs 2496 crore," Pawar said.