Government Stresses Transparency in Its Rice-pledging Scheme

(28/11/2012)

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has stressed that the Government’s rice-pledging policy has been implemented with transparency and that the Government is ready for scrutiny. The Prime Minister said that the Government would explain its rice-pledging policy at any forums possible in order to create better understanding about the scheme, which is intended to benefit farmers. The rice-pledging scheme was an issue raised by the Opposition in its censure debate against Prime Minister Yingluck and her administration on 25-27 November 2012, followed by the vote on the censure motion on 28 November. The opposition alleged that the scheme would destroy market mechanism and the Government would lose a lot of money in subsidizing the scheme, which also has loopholes for irregularities and corruption. It raised doubts over a government-to-government rice deal, as well, saying that it was intended to benefit certain companies. Prime Minister Yingluck explained that the scheme was carried out in order to provide income security for farmers. The Government has spent 410 billion baht on the scheme, and it received 21 million tons of paddy, equivalent to 11 million tons of rice. Today the rice price has increased by 8 percent. It is expected that 210 billion baht will go back to the Ministry of Finance by the end of 2013. As Chairperson of the National Rice Policy Committee, the Prime Minister told responsible ministers not to sell rice at a lower price than the buying price. In order to prevent corruption, she said, a committee, comprising members from many sectors, had been set up to look into the scheme. Closed-circuit television cameras have been installed at various silos participating in the project. The Prime Minister said that she had assigned Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Ubumrung to receive complaints on corruption cases and conduct investigations. Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom was assigned to look after the rice release each time. She pointed out that although Thailand had lost its status as the largest rice exporter in the world, Thai rice was sold at a higher price on average than that of neighboring countries. The Government wants to see higher value of Thai rice. A report shows that, from January to October 2012, Thailand ranked third among the world’s largest rice exporters, coming after Vietnam and India. In terms of value, Thai rice was sold at 679 US dollars a ton, compared with 445 dollars a ton sold by Vietnam. Minister Boonsong earlier urged the people not to be too worried about the chance that Thailand might lose its status as the world's number one rice exporter. In his view, the important point is how to provide farmers with better living conditions. He said that the Government had launched the rice-mortgage scheme, so that farmers would earn more from their rice production, thus enabling them to ease their debts and improve their quality of life.