Rotting grains: ‘Pawar ministry misleading PMO’

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has blamed the Union Food and Civil Supplies Ministry for misleading the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on rotting food grains in the government-owned warehouses across the country.

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has blamed the Union Food and Civil Supplies Ministry for misleading the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on rotting food grains in the government-owned warehouses across the country.

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The Nationalist Congress Party President, Sharad Pawar, heads the ministry responsible for procurement and distribution of food grains.

MPCC’ spokesperson Kanhaiyalal Gidwani said Pawar’s ministry did not inform the PMO about the quantity of grains that remained unsold in the warehouses. “The quantity (of unsold grains) is more than 90 per cent in Maharashtra,” said Gidwani, who is a former board member of the Food Corporation of India that owns warehouses.

Last month, the MPCC wrote to the prime minister, demanding the existing food storage and supply policy be changed with immediate effect. ‘The state should not hoard the grains stock for years, but supply it to the public at a cheaper rate,” said the letter signed by MPCC chief Manikaro Thakare.

Gidwani said the food and civil supplies ministry did not give the exact figures to PMO. “The facts, if furnished, will help PMO to take some concrete decision.”