The mobile Cabinet yesterday approved the rice pledging scheme for the 2012/2013 fiscal year, worth Bt105 billion in totals, proposed by the Commerce Ministry.

Under the scheme, about seven million tonnes of rice will be bought from farmers, down from 9.2 million tonnes previously anticipated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, as yields have been hit by drought in some areas.

Spokesperson Tosaporn Serirak said Cabinet gave a green light to the BAAC (Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives) to borrow money to facilitate the liquidity of the scheme, especially in the event that rice is not released in time.

The BAAC will also be allowed to get more loans while waiting for the distribution or resale of rice from

government storage - so it can retain liquidity at an appropriate level for deposit clients.

In other moves:

Cabinet also approved moves to try to control millers, farmers or others who try to cheat the scheme, especially if they purchase "young rice" aged less than 110 days. Any rice mill caught doing this would be punished with three to five years on a state blacklist.

Ministers also backed a Bt600-million budget to develop Chachoengsao and four nearby provinces, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said.

She said each of the five provinces was granted Bt100 million for development projects and another Bt100 million was granted for the development of the five provinces as a group.

Developments would be carried out in line with the overall national strategy and provincial plans.

Yingluck said the budget would support logistics development from Laem Chabang port to the central provinces. The money also would be spent for promotion of conservation tourism, she said. But Cabinet was yet to consider off-budget projects in these provinces, she noted.

Cabinet also decided to extend free third-class train and non-air-conditioned bus services for another six months to help low-income earners cope with the rising cost of living. The extension period is from today until September 30.

It also set aside Bt2.06 billion as compensation for Bangkok Mass Transit Authority and the State Railway of Thailand.

The Cabinet has decided to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan on the exchange of information to prevent and crack down on human trafficking. Deputy spokesperson Sunisa Lertpakawat said the MoU was aimed at the exchange, access and use of information on human trafficking, including keeping information confidential.

Source: The Nation