Tehelka; Bijay Kumar Singh; Thursday November 18, 2010
Delhi;Sixty per cent of the wheat samples and 33 per cent of the rice samples sent by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from its warehouses to its Gurgaon laboratory were found unfit for human consumption. This information was brought out by a Right to Information (RTI) query by Kirit Somaiya, national secretary of Bharatiya Janta Party, according to details given by him.
Much of the foodgrain in the warehouses is supposed to be preserved and distributed among the poor. The wheat and rice provided for distribution under the Food Security Bill would have to come from such warehouses.
The Deputy General Manager (Quality Control) of FCI, IK Negi, had refused last month to comment on the food grain situation. When contacted by Tehelka, he had said, “The Central Vigilance Commission is conducting an inquiry and I will only comment after that.” Following the RTI query, he still refused to talk about the matter. The issue, he said, was pending before the National Human Rights Commission and would come up for hearing on November 22. The rotting food grain matter is also listed for hearing before the Supreme Court on December 1.
Somaiya said the Congress-led UPA government had “compromised” the food safety norms and health of poor people. “The FCI is trying to relax quality norms to send sub-standard rice and wheat to the public distribution system.” He accused the government of “deliberately letting the food grains to rot to benefit the liquor manufacturers.” He was referring to the 2009 Maharashtra government proposal for allowing rotten grains to be sold to liquor manufacturers.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, KV Thomas, had earlier admitted to Tehelka that storage was a problem. But the government’s contention is that only a small portion of the food grain goes bad. The laboratory report would indicate that a substantial portion of the warehoused food grain goes rotten. The National Advisory Council member NC Saxena holds the Centre responsible for the mess. “I can quite believe that the damage to food grains due to long periods of storage is quite substantial,” he said.
During 2001-04 the government had exported about 28 million tonnes of food grain as cattle feed as it was no longer fit for human consumption. “It's a shame,” says agriculturalist MS Swaminathan. “If we cannot save food grains for the needy, the state should not be talking of a food security law. Providing food should be the priority. Instead, the government spent money on Commonwealth Games.”
On November 15, the Supreme Court had expressed concern over the “gigantic” quantity of food grain that had become unfit for human consumption. “Preserve what you procure. Food grains should not be allowed to rot,” a bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma told the government.
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