Pranab raps ministry over grain storage

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday pulled up the Food Ministry and Planning Commission for the lack of urgency in augmenting foodgrain storage capacity despite the government having to face embarrassment over instances of grain lying in the open and rotting.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday pulled up the Food Ministry and Planning Commission for the lack of urgency in augmenting foodgrain storage capacity despite the government having to face embarrassment over instances of grain lying in the open and rotting.

Mukherjee aired his exasperation with the slow pace of augmenting storage capacity during the meeting of the EGoM on food security.

Last month,The Indian Express had reported about the slow pace of creating storage capacity. It pointed out that the Centre has been able to firm up plans for only about 25 lakh tonnes of storage as against the target of additional space for 150 lakh tonnes as directed by the EGoM.

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At Wednesdays meeting,it was during the discussion on a proposal to allow export of some premium quality non-Basmati rice that Mukherjee enquired about the storage position.

The Food Ministry informed that offtake of foodgrains allocated to different states was very low,given relatively high prices under the open market sale scheme (OMSS). The EGoM in the past had resorted to OMSS with twin objective of containing food price inflation and also creating storage space. When it was suggested that the Centre will have to bear additional subsidy to reduce prices of OMSS grains for better offtake to create storage space,Mukherjee sought details of implementation of the EGoMs direction to augment storage capacity.

As a Food Ministry official was stating that it had set up a committee and underlined that the Planning Commission was also undertaking a study regarding creation of modern storage faciltities,Mukherjee lost his cool,said a source present in the at the meeting. What kind of administration we are running? Mukherjee is said it have asked.

This forced another Food Ministry official to apprise him of the nitty gritty of creating conventional storage spaces and modern spaces like silos.

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It is not only we that store foodgrains. Countries across the world has mechanism to store foodgrains in large quantities. What is there to consider when we have to augment storage capacities? Mukherjee is said to have asked.

Mukherjee then asked the Food Ministry to work for creating storage capacity as in other countries. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar,on this point,is learnt to have sought a clarification on what to do. In response,Mukherjee directed the Food Ministry to come out with a plan to create a storage capacity of 20 lakh tonnes under modern silos whiling continuing efforts to augment traditional storage infrastructure during this period.

The EGoM also decided to allow export of three premium varieties of non-basmati rice. It also allowed the export of Rose variety of onions,which is grown in Karnataka.