Govt caught in no man's land as foodgrain mountains keep growing taller

The stock burden along with inadequate Budget allocations for the food subsidy and the Centre's zeal to check the fiscal deficit has worsened FCI's financial position

A few days ago, local papers in Haryana published reports of paddy farmers being turned away from mandis because government agencies had stopped procurement saying quotas had been reached. Mandis  in Karnal, Panipat and Yamunagar all reportedly downed their shutters for six days, causing a long line-up of trucks and tractor-trolleys. It was only after the newly-formed Manohar Lal government clarified that no decision to stop procurement had been taken that the Haryana mandis re-opened.

The incident highlights again the challenges the Centre and state governments face when it comes to ending the open-ended procurement of wheat and rice by