Calcutta, March 22: Finance minister Asim Dasgupta today said the corporation to be set up for the purchase and sale of foodgrain would work in tandem with the Forward Bloc-run food department.

The minister clarified that the CPM was not trying to get even with its ally, with which it is locked in a row over industrialisation and farm retail.

Replying to discussions on the 2008-09 state budget in the Assembly today, Dasgupta said: “Some theories are being spread that the CPM wants to clip the wings of the Forward Bloc by setting up a new corporation. That’s not true.”

According to the minister, the food department often faces “acute problems” while procuring grains from villages since it does not have a “proper set-up” in the districts.

“That difficulty can be solved if self-help groups reach the farmers directly and purchase foodgrain. The groups would complement the work being done by the food department,” he said.

The corporation will engage self-help groups to procure farm produce from farmers and will also anchor a retail outlet chain across the state, the minister said. The chain will initially sell foodgrain and later stock vegetables.

Dasgupta had announced the setting up of the corporation in the state budget tabled in the House on March 17.

The government has allocated Rs 100 crore for the corporation and expects to raise Rs 300 crore from the market.

The finance minister dismissed the Opposition’s apprehension that malls were part of the plan. “Our government is not going to set up malls,” he said.

Teacher boost

The finance minister announced a Rs 500 hike in temporary teachers’ pay. There are nearly 15,000 temporary teachers in the state, who get Rs 2,000-2,500 a month.