President Anura Dissanayake says the Army would have to be deployed if rice cannot be made available to consumers at the certified price given by the government after the ‘Maha’ season has been completed.
The President said this while participating in the Satana Rupavahini programme telecast by Sirasa TV. At the time the harvest of the Maha season is being gathered, if the mill owners are not prepared to sell rice at the stipulated price given by the government, the president is prepared to deploy the Army to supervise the mills, said the President. He said the move would be carried out without making any changes in the management or the employees.
When a ‘Sirasa’ journalist asked the President how democratic such a move would be, the President emphasized that the main issue is making food available for the people, and there is no way of hiding behind the democratic label to deny people their right to food.
