Haryana FCI expects better movement of wheat

The state of Haryana that contributes roughly 35 per cent to the central pool of wheat procurement, expects a better movement of wheat stock this season.

The state had been facing difficulties in the movement of wheat stock in the months of February and March due to non-availability of railway rakes mainly from Delhi division of Indian Railways.

The wheat procured from Haryana is distributed through Bikaner Division of North Western Railways and Ambala and Delhi Division of Northern Railways. The bulk of it (about 60 per cent) is moved by the Delhi Division.

The sources in Food Corporation of India Zonal Office, Haryana apprised that there were bottlenecks in the timely movement of freight due to inadequate number of rakes available.

The above table explains that there is a pendency of 316 rakes for Haryana.

The officials at the Delhi Division of Northern Railways informed that there was pressure from Punjab to liquidate the available stocks of wheat in the last two months, so less numbers of rakes were available for Haryana. But the situation has improved now and adequate rakes would be provided for Haryana.

According to sources, the food secretary, Government of Haryana has also pursued its case for better freight management for the timely distribution of foodgrains from the state.

Haryana had a backlog of 3.81 million tonnes till March 31, 2010 of which FCI had 590,000 tonnes and the six state agencies (Hafed, Haryana Warehousing Corporation, Haryana Food and Supplies, Haryana Agro Industries, Food Corporation of India, Haryana Agro Industries) had 3.22 million tonnes.

The officials at the Delhi division of Northern Railways said the railways had earmarked 8 rakes per day for Haryana.

A total of 6.92 million tonnes of wheat was procured from Haryana last year and FCI and other agencies perceive to procure 7 million tonnes this season.

The FCI officials told Business Standard that if they were actually given 8 rakes per day, this should help them clear all stocks. “We require about 13 rakes per day from all three railway divisions for smooth movement of freight and if Delhi provides us 8 rakes per day we can easily get 5 rakes per day from the rest of the two divisions,” said a senior official.