Bihar achieved 90 per cent of foodgrains procurement: Rajak

Bihar has procured 90 per cent of foodgrains in the current financial year as compared to 71 per cent in the last fiscal, Food Minister Shyam Rajak said today.
Rajak was replying to a discussion on grant for food and civil supplies in the Legislative Council.
He alleged that the Centre was not meeting the requirements of the state.
The Centre is providing 35 kg of wheat and rice to 25 lakh beneficiaries under 'Antayodya' scheme while the government has to provide subsidised ration to 80 lakh BPL families at a cost of Rs 8.54 crore. This amount is being arranged by the state government from its own resources, he added.

Rajak said, while Bihar requires 4.79 lakh tonnes of grains to distribute subsidised wheat and rice through the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Centre was making available only 2.28 lakh tonnes.
FCI has storage capacity of only 6.2 lakh tonnes while the requirement is for 28 lakh tonnes.
The Food minister added that, while the state needs 567 railway rakes for lifting foodgrains only 410 have been made available.