New Delhi, August 28
Around 85 per cent of the rice procured by the FCI in Punjab and Haryana in some cases during the period 2000-05 was “beyond rejection limit” (not fit for human consumption), according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The CAG asked the two states to strengthen the quality control at the procurement level.
“Quality control at the time of procurement needs to be strengthened, if necessary by introducing a system of incentives and disincentives, so that the stipulated level of inspection at various levels is enforced so as to ensure that sub-standard foodgrains are not procured,” the CAG said.
Millers were required to deliver rice conforming to the specifications fixed by the Centre to State Agencies and the FCI, by processing the Fair Average Quality (fit for human consumption) paddy supplied by the FCI/state agencies.
Sub-standard rice was to be rejected by the FCI and the millers were required to replace such rice. Alternatively, it was to be disposed of by the district office concerned in the local market. Under no circumstances was such rice to be moved to other locations for distribution through the PDS.
The CAG said “audit examination revealed significant deficiencies in the quality control system for the procurement of rice by the FCI and widespread acceptance of sub-standard rice in Punjab and Haryana regions”.
In the Punjab region, there was shortfall in checking over 2.69 lakh MT of rice (10 per cent) by District Managers and over 3.15 lakh MT of rice (8 per cent) by District Managers-Quality Controls with regard to the stipulated percentages during the years 2000-01 to 2004-05. Similarly, in the Haryana region, 0.55 lakh MT (18 per cent) and 0.16 lakh MT (4 per cent) of rice was short checked by District Managers and District Managers-Quality Control, respectively, during 2002-03 to 2004-05.
There were shortfalls ranging from 9 to 66 per cent in the inspection of depots by the Senior Regional Manager, Punjab, during 2000-01 and 2002-03 to 2004-05; shortfalls in the Haryana region during the same years ranged from 4 to 25 per cent.
“Inspection squads (ISs) from the regional office visit storage depots to ascertain the ‘Beyond Rejection Limit’ rice. During checks from 2000-01 to 2004-05 on various lots by ISs in Punjab and Haryana, the percentage of cases in which rice was found to be sub-standard varied from 24 per cent to 85 per cent against 7 per cent to 26 per cent detected by DM/ DMQCs, indicating that the inspections conducted by DM/DM QC were far from satisfactory,” the report said.
Even the inspections conducted by Regional Office ISs were not found to be adequately effective, as the findings of the CBI in its raids (January 2006) indicated that 441 samples (98 per cent) out of 451 samples collected by them had failed in respect of rice procured during 2004-05, it said.
The FCI needed to follow up each quality-related complaints scrupulously and promptly. However, in the Punjab region, 1480 quality related complaints were pending till July 2005, of which 722 complaints related to the period prior to October 1991. This indicated that the Regional Office, Punjab, did not have an effective system in place for monitoring and following up of quality-related complaints, it observed.
