11,700 tonnes of food grains rot in FCI godowns across India
July 27, 2010
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/Over-11700-tonnes-of-foodgrains-damaged-in-FCI-godowns-Pawar/articleshow/6224059.cms
NEW DELHI: Over 11,700 tonnes of foodgrains worth Rs 6.86 crore were found “damaged” in government godowns, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar informed the Lok Sabha today.
The FCI (Food Corporation of India) has taken penal action against the officials responsible, he added.
“Reports have been received about damage to wheat and rice stocks in FCI depots,” Pawar said.
The minister said that the damage was noticed by a team of officials, which was deputed recently to inspect the foodgrain storage situation at FCI depots across Hapur, Orai and Harduaganj in Uttar Pradesh.
“The team observed damage to wheat stocks at these depots and dereliction of duty by FCI officials. Based on its report, FCI has taken penal action against the officials concerned,” Pawar said, adding that corrective steps are being taken in this regard.
According to data submitted by Pawar, the maximum damage of 7,066 tonnes of foodgrains was reported from Punjab, followed by 1,846 tonnes from West Bengal and 1,457 tonnes from Gujarat.
Of the foodgrains damaged, 9,141 tonnes was rice while 2,486 tonnes was wheat, while the rest of the 81 tonnes was paddy.
In a separate query, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs K V Thomas said that as of July 1, there were 11,708 tonnes of damaged/non-issuable foodgrains in FCI depots.
Thomas, however, clarified that not everything in the 11,708 tonnes of damaged foodgrains was ‘rotten’.
“This quantity has become non-issuable because of different reasons, and all of it cannot be termed as rotten,” he said while replying to the query on whether foodgrains are rotting in FCI godowns.
Thomas further explained that some amount of foodgrains gets damaged during transportation, handling and storage operations. The quality of foodgrains also deteriorates due to spillage, storage over extended periods of time and exposure to rains, he added.
FCI, the nodal agency for the procurement and distribution of foodgrains, had 57.8 million tonnes in its godowns at the start of this month. However, as per buffer norms, it should have had 31.9 million tonnes as on July 1.
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http://www.hindustantimes.com/Food-grains-rot-in-FCI-godowns-across-India/H1-Article1-578444.aspx
Food grains rot in FCI godowns across India
Heaps of food grains are rotting in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns across the country due to apathetic attitude of the authorities concerned, reveals a right to information (RTI) query.
The finding shows that as on Jan 1 this year, 10,688 lakh tonnes of food grains were found damaged in FCI depots, enough to feed over six lakh people for over 10 years.
Between 1997 and 2007, 1.83 lakh tonnes of wheat, 6.33 lakh tonnes of rice, 2.20 lakh tonnes of paddy and 111 lakh tonnes of maize were damaged in different FCI godowns.
“The FCI godowns have enough space to store food grains properly. Yet the grains are rotting in open spaces on their premises while millions are starving. It’s a national shame,” said Dev Ashish Bhattacharya, who filed the RTI application on January 6, 2010.
The storing capacity of covered godowns of FCI is around 256.64 lakh tonnes and the total stored stock is around 218.35 lakh tonnes.
This being the overall status, the region-wise data across the country show startling facts that the stocks in FCI covered depots are less as compared to their storage capacities.
In northern region, the total capacity of FCI’s covered godowns is 127.48 lakh tonnes, while only 111.22 lakh tonnes of food grains are stored in the region.
In southern region, the total capacity of the covered godowns is 57.39 lakh tonnes while the total stock comes up to 54.24 lakh tonnes.
In the eastern region, the total covered godowns are 23.99 lakh tonnes and the stocks held is just 17.10 lakh tonnes.
In the northeast, 4.48 lakh tonnes can be stored but the available grains are 3.50 lakh tonnes.
The westen region statistics reveal that 43.30 lakh tonnes are the available total covered godowns capacity and the available stocks are just 32.29 lakh tonnes.
“FCI godowns have enough capacity to store large amounts of food grains. Why don’t they stock the food grain and why there is a huge quantity of food grain damage? While lakhs of people are starving, the government should be squarely blamed for the mismanagement of foodstock,” said Bhattacharya.
