India: 'No Move to Shift Head Office of Tobacco Board'

Source from:  Business Line (The Hindu) Visakhapatnam  08/17/2004

THERE is no move to shift the head office of the Tobacco Board from Guntur and, if there is one, the farmers and people's representatives from Andhra Pradesh will oppose it tooth and nail, Dr Y. Sivaji, President of the Andhra Pradesh Tobacco Farmers' Association, has said. In a statement issued on Friday in Guntur, in reaction to reports appearing in a section of the Telugu press that the Tobacco Board might be shifted to New Delhi, he said the association was not aware of any such move and that farmers need not have any apprehensions on that count. ``It is clearly stated in the clause 4 of the Tobacco Board Act, 1975, that the head office shall be situated at Guntur and, if the head office were to be shifted anywhere, the Act would have to be amended. We will oppose any such attempt. But I do not there is any such move,'' he said. In 1978, when Mr Mohan Dharia was the Union Commerce Minister, such an attempt had been made but it was thwarted, he added. Telugu papers had stated that the former Prime Minister, Mr Deve Gowda, was behind the move. Dr Sivaji said he had personally spoken to Mr Gowda. "Mr Gowda has assured me that he has not made any plea to shift the board from Guntur to New Delhi. He told me he had sought the establishment of a regional office in Bangalore to take care of the interests of Karnataka farmers. We have nothing against such a proposal.'' On greater representation to Karnataka on the board, in view of the increasing area of cultivation in that State, he said that demand could be considered and conceded. "In fact, we always have sought a common platform of farmers from both States to decide on issues relating to the crop. The interests of farmers from both States should be safeguarded." Dr Sivaji said the tobacco auctions had come to a close. A quantity of 147.97 million kg had been sold in the State at an average price of Rs 34.90 per kg. The Ongole-based Tobacco Farmers' Federation had bought 2.4 million kg of tobacco at a cost of Rs 10 crore, he added. Enditem