Gopal Rai visits Narela, says no FCI counters buying foodgrains at MSP

Addressing a press conference later in the day, Delhi agriculture minister Rai said he has called a meeting with senior officials of FCI at the Delhi Secretariat on Saturday to resolve the issue.

Delhi agriculture minister Gopal Rai on Friday inspected the wholesale grain market in Narela and alleged that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has not set up any counter inside the market to procure food grains at minimum support prices (MSP).

Rai said the govt has decided to authorise some senior government officials in the market in order to create a system in which farmers are able to avail all facilities from a single place. (File photo)

The Union ministry of food and public distribution, however, dismissed the allegations.

Addressing a press conference later in the day, Rai said he has called a meeting with senior officials of FCI at the Delhi Secretariat on Saturday to resolve the issue.

“In Narela Mandi, neither any procurement is being made nor has any counter been set up. FCI claimed that they set up a counter, but our visit reveals something else. Some of their officers had said that counters had been set up in the godown. But, even over there, no purchases were being done, and instead, farmers were being asked for documents. This system is such that the farmer is just being made to go from the mandi to the godown throughout the day,” he said.

Rai said the government has decided to authorise some senior government officials in the market in order to create a system in which farmers are able to avail all facilities from a single place.

Responding to Rai’s allegation, a spokesperson of the Union ministry of food and public distribution dismissed the allegations and said the FCI will send visuals of the counter at the market to the Delhi government.

On Wednesday, the FCI and its Delhi region office had taken to Twitter calling the AAP-led Delhi government’s claims of no counters having been set up for purchase of produce from farmers “baseless”. “Allegations made by the Delhi government are completely baseless. FCI Delhi is fully prepared to procure wheat from farmers of Delhi at FSD Narela, Mayapuri & APMC Najafgarh mandi, which have been operational since April 1 & FCI has already procured 158 Qt wheat as on April 7,” tweeted FCI Delhi region, along with photographs of FSD Narela.

Leader of opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, challenged Rai to prove his claim that the FCI is not procuring grains from the Narela market.

“If his allegation turns out to be false, he should resign and if I am proved wrong, then I will step down as Leader of Opposition. The FCI had already started procuring wheat at its three centres in Narela, Najafgarh and Mayapuri from April 1 at the MSP of ₹1,975 per quintal,” he said.

Bidhuri further said that on April 10, he along with some farmers will go to meet Kejriwal. “If Kejriwal refuses to meet us, we will stage a dharna outside his residence. We demand that all obstacles in the way of procuring wheat from Delhi farmers at MSP be removed at once and that the farmers be given 50% extra as promised by Kejriwal. Also, there should be an announcement of free power supply to them,” he said.