The Minister of state for food and consumer affairs said that before a call was taken on wheat exports, there was a need to ensure an adequate quantity of foodgrains was in hand for poor families.
Minister of state for food and consumer affairs K V Thomas today said that before a call was taken on wheat exports, there was a need to ensure an adequate quantity of foodgrains was in hand for poor families under the Food Security Bill.
"Wheat export is a major policy matter. Presently, there are 6.53 crore BPL families and we have to give maybe 35 kg of foodgrain to a large number of families under the Food Security Bill. Now 50 lakh tonnes of foodgrains is also allocated to various states for BPL (families) and we want certain quantity of food grainto take care of these requirements," replied Thomas when he was asked here today why the Centre was not allowing wheat exports.
Thomas also said allowing wheat exports could affect international prices. "With the opening of wheat export, there will be an affect on international prices, though at some point of time, we will take a decision," Thomas, who was on a three-day tour of Punjab to review the ongoing wheat procurement activities, said.
Wheat exports were banned in 2007. On creation of additional capacities for storing foodgrains, Thomas said that scientific storage facility 'silos' of 2 million tonnes capacity would be created across the country, besides another 150 lakh tonnes of additional storage capacities under the Private Entrepreneur Guarantee Scheme.
"Out of 150 lakh tonnes storage capacity, 50 lakh tonnes will be set up in Punjab and 38 lakh tonnes in Haryana," he said.
Regarding the demand of Punjab and Haryana for faster movement of foodgrains, Thomas admitted that there was a problem with the management of rail rakes. He said the ministry was in constant touch with Railway authorities and a group of officials from the FCI and state government will monitor the movement of foodgrain.
Punjab and Haryana have been seeking fast movement of foodgrain to other states in order to store fresh crops in storage facilities.
He said the Cabinet had decided to allocate 50 lakh tonnes of grain to various states for BPL families. "I am hopeful that foodgrain movement from Punjab and Haryana to consuming states will take place as per plan and the storage problem in Punjab and Haryana can be taken care of," he said.
Talking about new initiatives, he said the ministry was looking at the possibility of installing cameras in godowns of FCI across the country to monitor the storage and movement of foodgrain in an efficient manner. "Once all the godowns are computerised, the next step will be to install cameras for
proper monitoring of grain," he said.
On wastage of foodgrains, Thomas said the proportion of foodgrain wastage has come down drastically to 0.2% from 2.5% five years back. "We are constantly taking steps to improve the system. Last year, the total foodgrain which got wasted was 18,000 tonnes in the country," he said.
Asked whether he was satisfied with the ongoing wheat procurement, he said, "If you ask me am I fully satisfied. But we are taking steps to improve the system," he said.
On the issue of direct payment to farmers, Thomas said it is the policy of the state government. "But we are trying to implement the direct payment system to ensure early payment to farmers," he said.
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