M A I N   N E W S

Buying bad wheat a habit with Punjab?
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 31
Continuing with the “well-entrenched trend of corruption and mismanagement” in foodgrain procurement and storage, the food bowl of India- Punjab - this year, too, procured wheat that was highly substandard and damaged.

This has been admitted by none other than Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who recently said in Parliament that as many as 244 bags of wheat procured by Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation (PUNSUP) on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) were found containing “mud slabs”

Besides, 760 bags out of 50,000 procured directly from mandis on behalf of PUNSUP, MARKFED and PSWC (Punjab State Warehousing Corporation).were found containing inferior quality foodgrain. The 760 bags had 49 per cent to 55.2 per cent inorganic material, he said

Pawar said both cases were under investigation and punitive action would be initiated against those found guilty. Agriculture Ministry officials, however, maintain that actual figure could be much higher as many more bags of wheat having similar substandard stock may have gone undetected, as it happens every year.

The FCI and state governments, through their agencies, take up procurement of foodgrain for the Central pool. Punjab has not opted for the Decentralised Procurement (DCP) scheme and procures grains with the help of its agencies on behalf of the FCI. These stocks are taken over by the FCI at the time of dispatch.

The government has prescribed stringent norms for procurement. States have to procure foodgrains as per specifications issued by the Centre. But almost every year there are reports of state agencies procuring substandard or damaged grains.

Punjab’s problems do not end at substandard procurement, as there is high wastage rate due to extremely poor storage facilities and practices. There have been well-documented reports of extensive damage to foodgrain in the FCI and state agency depots by rains and floods last month.

Widespread damage of foodgrains was reported at the FCI CAP Complex at Khonuri and three Punjab Agro Food Corporation complexes in Sangrur besides Pungrain at Talwandi, Punjab Agro Food Corporation Limited complexes and MARKFED Complex, Zira, in Ferozepore. There was also an extensive damage to grains at Bani in Sirsa and Ismailabad in Kurkshetra.

Pawar says damage to foodgrain stocks at these FCI depots and storage centres took place as the agencies concerned did not take “proper precautionary measures.” At Bani and Ismailabad in Haryana, damage was caused due to floods.

During 2009-10, as much as 6,702 MT foodgrain were declared damaged, non-issuable or unfit for human consumption, of which 2,273 MT (rice), was found damaged in Punjab alone - the highest in the country.