Amidst the ongoing debate on the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), the Ministry of Women and Child Development has written to the Commerce Ministry asking it not to earmark agricultural land for such purposes as it might adversely affect the nutritional status of women and children.
“We have written a letter to the Commerce Ministry asking it not to allocate agricultural land for setting up SEZs,” Union Minister for Child and Women Welfare Renuka Chowdhury said on Wednesday in a seminar on food security.
She suggested that allocation of prime agricultural land for SEZ would lead to reduction in food production which in turn would affect the nutritional requirements of women and children.
Participating in the discussion, CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat referred to the issue of wheat import scam and demanded procurement of foodgrain only by official agencies.
“In the last three years, private players have benefited from government’s procurement policy. We demand the reversal of current policy,” she said.
“We will have a meeting here this month which would be attended by representatives of various state governments to discuss all these issues,” she added.
