Chandigarh: Officials in Punjab and Haryana, which produce 70 per cent of the nation's food grains, say the central government is not doing enough to lift the huge stocks lying in the open in the two states that had once ushered in India's Green Revolution.
After Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal took up the matter of shortage of storage facilities with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week, neighbouring Haryana has now asked the centre to lift stocks of foodgrains lying in the open.
Haryana Minister for Food and Supplies Mahender Pratap Singh has urged the central government to immediately lift the food grains stored in open spaces as it is bound to deteriorate.
"At present, Haryana has a storage capacity of 45.82 lakh tonnes [4.58 million tonnes] of foodgrains as against a huge stock of 88.72 lakh tonnes of wheat, which include 0.85 lakh tonnes of wheat purchased during 2008-09 and 5.36 lakh tonnes purchased during 2009-10 and 19.64 lakh tonnes purchased during 2010-11," Singh said.
"Besides, 13.75 lakh tonnes of rice and one lakh tonnes of bajra are also stored in the go-downs of the state," he said.
Procuring of food grains from farmers is mostly done by state agencies, which are funded by the central government.
Seeking immediate lifting of the food grains, Singh said 70 per cent of the stock was stored in open space in the state.
"If the movement of paddy is not ensured till October 2011, its milling would not be possible during the coming season. On an average, Haryana needs the movement of 10 lakh tonnes of wheat and three lakh tonnes of rice every month," Singh said.
Farmers angry
"In a country where millions go without food, huge stocks of food grains, wheat and paddy, are let to rot in the open in both the states, with the central government not coordinating with them to have proper silos and other storage facilities. It is criminal on the part of the government to waste so much foodgrains," farmer Shamsher Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab told IANS.
Pratap Singh said keeping in view the storage capacity of Haryana, silos with a storage capacity of 20 lakh tonnes should be constructed.
He urged the central government to give Rs600 million (Dh49 million) so that storage facilities could be built in states.
Punjab and Haryana together contribute over 70 per cent of the total food grains, especially wheat and rice, to the national kitty. The two individually constitute less than two per cent of the total geographical area of the country.
The Punjab government has also lamented the inaction on the part of the central government in creating more storage capacity for foodgrains in Punjab.
Chief Minister Badal told the prime minister last week that against a required capacity of 49 lakh tonnes for food grain storage, the total approved capacity is only 22 lakh tonnes.
"There is still a shortage of 27 lakh tonnes for storing foodgrains properly," Badal said.
