Ban on Cotton exports lifted

The uncertainty over whether the commerce department would reverse the ban on cotton exports got over on Sunday with commerce minister Anand Sharma formally deciding to revoke the order issued last week. Although the commerce department was forced into a rethink following protests, it took a meeting with a Congress delegation from Gujarat led by Ahmed Patel, political secretary to party president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, for the dilly-dallying to end. Sharma’s ministry had to reverse its stand in less than a week following intense behind-the-scene pressure from the Congress itself and public outbursts by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. Incidentally, it was Patel who had first flagged the farmers’ concerns to the government soon after the directorate general of foreign trade issued the ban order last Monday. The commerce and textiles departments, which are under Sharma’s charge, had defended the ban last week citing record export of the commodity. This came despite concerns that not just farmers, but even exporters who had tied up with foreign buyers, would be hit by the order. The curb also led to a fall in domestic prices. But Pawar’s public outburst against the move — which coincided with Congress’s poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa — prompted the government to change its stance and a group of ministers led by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee met on Friday. With the Gujarat elections only a few months away, the government did not want to risk being branded “anti-farmer”, especially after the poor poll performance in recent months, and seems to have impressed upon Sharma to change his stand. Shakti Singh Gohil, leader of the opposition in the Gujarat assembly, claimed credit for the change in stance by the Centre. In a statement, he said Sonia Gandhi and PM Manmohan Singh too were involved in getting the ban reversed.