Shanta says officials would be punished for ``rotten'' grain

Shanta says officials would be punished for ``rotten'' grain
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, DEC 21: Faced with widespread criticism in the Rajya Sabha over the state of the public distribution system, Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Shanta Kumar announced that his ministry would fix responsibility for rotting of huge grain stocks and punish those found guilty.

Members took the Government to task for creating a ironical situation where hunger and malnutrition prevailed in many parts of the country while Government godowns were proving too small to store foodgrain. In defence, Kumar blamed the state governments for their failure to come up with schemes to avail of the surplus food stocks.

Amid protests by the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shanta Kumar pointed out that Bihar was not even lifting foodgrain worth Rs 188 crore offered free of cost for the mid-day meal scheme in schools, nor was it lifting its quota of foodgrains meant to be distributed at subsidised prices to people living below the poverty line.

Shanta Kumar's speech was frequently disrupted by members from the Left parties and the RJD, while he announced that panchayats would be involved in the monitoring of distribution to check leakage.

In future, state governments would be granted subsidy on PDS only after they produce the utilisation account, which is contrary to the current practice of giving subsidy at the time of offtake of the stocks, Kumar said. Hehowever, concurred with members that the PDS was suffering from lacunae and the Government's overall food policy needed overhauling.

Referring to members' demand that the excess foodgrain available with the Government should be used in ``food for work'' programmes for constructing roads and other infrastructural facilities, Kumar said the Government was prepared to provide foodgrain for the scheme at half the price it sold to below poverty line (bpl) consumers.

The Minister said that under the new food policy, district officials would be made accountable under the Essential Commodities Act for proper implementation and management of grain distribution at PDS ration shops.