MPCC steps up anti-Pawar campaign; says 80% of allocated wheat was not lifted by states because of wrong pricing.
Sharad Pawar, union minister for agriculture and food and civil supplies, is concealing real facts on rotting wheat from prime minister Manmohan Singh, the state Congress unit has alleged.
The food and civil supplies ministry has not disclosed the truth that a huge quantity of wheat is left rotting as 80% of the stock in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns has not been lifted by states across the country. In Maharashtra, wheat lifted from the
FCI is negligible, as open market prices are lower
than that of the Centre, it has said in a letter to the prime minister.
The Congress missive is believed to be an exercise to contain the damage to the image of the Democratic Front government in the state over the issue of rotting wheat. “The department of food and public distribution is misguiding your office (PMO), thus dissuading the Centre from taking correct policy decisions in public interest on distribution of food grains,” it said.
The letter is also being seen by analysts as a Congress move to distance itself from coalition partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and shift the blame entirely to NCP chief Pawar.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) spokesperson Kanhaiyalal Gidwani said, “The state government has been pursuing with the Centre to adopt a new policy on food grain distribution. Our demand is that the ministry should
ensure that the wheat prices are at par or lower than the open market prices so that it gets lifted from the FCI godowns and not left to rot for years.”
Chief minister Ashok Chavan and MPCC president Manikrao Thakre have also urged the Centre to look into the issue and ensure that food languishing in government store houses reaches the people at reasonable prices.
“The ministry of food and civil supplies is candid in admitting that storage of wheat in the FCI is on account of unlifted quantities. But it has not bothered to mention the exact quantity, nor has it explained that unlifted quantities is due to wrong policies pursued by the ministry.”
The MPCC has been corresponding with the prime minister’s office on price rise and rotting wheat in the FCI in the last fortnight.
The Congress has suggested that the price of wheat be made uniform across the country at Rs12 per kg. In its letter to the prime minister, the MPCC has stated, “80% of the allocated quantities are not lifted as these commodities under the open market sales scheme (OMSS) are costlier than the prices available in the open market.”
Information revealed that the government of India is holding adequate stock of wheat even after setting aside stock for its various schemes like BPL, APL, midday meal and buffer stock. The carry over stock is about 16 million metric tonnes.
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