JALANDHAR, July 29 — Has lakhs of tonnes of old wheat crop been lying and rotting in the open and in godowns of different state agencies for years together due to alleged violation of the FIFO (first in and first out) system by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) authorities?

The answer could be in the affirmative if the official figures of old wheat stock, which is piling up in open spaces in the state due to non-movement to other states, are to be believed.

The FIFO system had been devised by the FCI authorities, according to which older crop lying in the wheat-surplus states was to be moved first to other foodgrain-deficit states, irrespective of the state agency through which it had been procured. But the system is allegedly being violated by none other than the FCI itself, resulting in accumulation of huge stocks of old wheat crop with the state agencies and the Food and Supplies Department.

On the other hand, what was taken by the state procurement agencies as a “step-motherly treatment”, was the clearing up of its own stocks by the FCI, which had even allegedly moved out a considerable part of its new stocks of the 2000-2001 crop, purchased by it during April and May. This has compounded problems for the state agencies, some of which were yet to clear their 1997-1998 stocks, which, according to officials, might have turned unfit for human consumption by now.

Though Mr G. Vijralingam, Director of Food and Supplies, Punjab, was not available for comments, it was learnt that the department has taken up the case with the Union Food Ministry a number of times but without much success.

The volume of the old stocks, lying with different agencies like Markfed, Punsup and the Food and Supplies Department is large.

The central agency has just 25 lakh tonnes of wheat crop stock at present, which was purchased by it during the 2000-2001 procurement season. Since there was no space available with the state agencies to store the entire stock of the wheat crop in their godowns, a sizeable quantity of the “brown gold” was lying in the open. During July, not a single special was allotted by the central FCI authorities to states and the state procurement agencies. Shocked over the treatment meted out to the state agencies, the food and supplies authorities had reportedly taken up the matter with the Union Food Ministry during their June 25 meeting at Delhi, but nothing came of it.