BJP seeks white paper on foodgrain storage

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday sought a white paper on foodgrain storage in Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses, saying there was a strategy to sell rotten wheat at cheaper rates to the liquor industry.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday sought a white paper on foodgrain storage in Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses, saying there was a strategy to sell rotten wheat at cheaper rates to the liquor industry.

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BJP national secretary Kirit Somaiya said that he visited a warehouse in Sirsa district of Haryana along with state party leaders and saw that huge stocks of foodgrains had been kept in the open despite the rainy season.

"In all 4,47,000 wheat sacks are lying in Bani (Sirsa) Godown. The whole lot belongs to the central pool i.e. Food and Civil Supplies Department of the Government of India. In spite of monsoon, a huge stock was kept in the open and unprotected," Somaiya said in a statement issued here, adding that the stock lying in the open had been damaged.

He said that there were reports of foodgrain infested with fungus having been been distributed to Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration card holders in some areas of Haryana.

"There is a ghotala (scam) of getting the foodgrains rotten and selling it at negligible price to the liquor industry," he said.