The Supreme Court had recently observed that the government should distribute food grains among a hungry population, instead of allowing it to rot in Food Corporation of India godowns.
Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday made it clear that free distribution of food grains among the poor, as suggested by the Supreme Court (SC) is “not possible to implement”.
The SC had recently observed that the government should distribute food grains among a hungry population, instead of allowing it to rot in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns.
Pawar’s stand has invited criticism from leaders across party lines in the state. “Nobody expects the government to distribute food grain for free. But the problem lies with the wrong policy which has lead to food rotting in the godowns instead of reaching the people,” said Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, spokesperson, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). “The root cause of why food grains remain unlifted from the godowns needs to be probed. If the rate of government-supplied food grains is higher than that of the market, then naturally it won’t be lifted.”
Earlier, Pawar had said: “The government needs to increase storage capacity.” He had also stressed on strengthening food supply through the public distribution system.
Those finding fault with the central policy say that the prices of food grains provided by the government is always 10 to 15% higher than the market’s. This dissuades private players to buy food grains from the FCI. The government releases food grains at lower prices only when they start rotting. If the government adopts a pragmatic approach and facilitates release at moderate prices, it would be beneficial for both consumers and the Centre, which won’t lose out on revenue.
BJP (MP) Kirit Somaiyya said: “There is a larger scam and it is not just policy failure.” A source said: “We have almost 16mt surplus wheat. Yet, there are complains from several states against the Centre not releasing stock as per demand.”
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