Food ministry steps up measures to clear stock

As food stocks reach record levels, the food ministry has decided to move grains faster from producing to non-producing states, make additional allocation under various social welfare schemes and create more storage space.

Total stocks of grains (wheat and rice) in the central pool as on May 1 was estimated to be 59.13 million tonnes, of which wheat comprised 31.37 million tonnes and rice 27.76 million tonnes, FCI data showed.

The stocks are far in excess of the buffer and strategic reserve requirement of 21.2 million tonnes of wheat and rice as on April 1. In mandis (wholesale markets) alone, 5.71 million tonnes of grain purchased by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and its affiliated organisations are lying for want of adequate storage space and movement to warehouses and non-consuming states.

 

To tide over the excess supplies, the central government has decided to ensure faster movement of grains from the producing states to the consuming states.

FCI has already been moving wheat directly from mandis to railway stations to prevent markets from getting choked due to heavy arrivals. It has also written to the state governments of Jharkhand and Bihar to speed up grain offtake, besides requesting the railways for additional rakes.

The Centre also plans to allocate an additional 10 million tonnes of grains through the targeted public distribution system (TPDS) over and above the normal annual allocation this year in the next six months to absorb the excess stocks.

The normal monthly allocation for TPDS in 2011-2012 has been pegged at 3.64 million tonnes, of which around 2.06 million tonnes is rice and the remaining is wheat.

“In addition to this normal allocation under TPDS, we will allocate another 10 million tonnes of grains this year to create space and also to bring down prices. A group of ministers has already approved 5 million tonnes of extra allocation in 2011-2012,” food secretary B C Gupta told Business Standard.

He said that more quantities could be allocated if states demand the same.

In India, the government distributes cheap grains to around 180 million families below poverty line, above the poverty line families and those which are included as beneficiaries under the Antodaya Anna Yojana. About 68 per cent of the total population is covered through these schemes.

The grains are distributed through a network of almost 500,000 ration or fair price shops. FCI also plans to add additional storage capacity of around 5.7 million tonnes by the end of March 2012.

“In the next two years, our total additional storage capacity will be close to 15 million tonnes, which along with the current capacity of around 32 million tonnes should be adequate to meet requirement of storage,” Gupta added.

The measures to quickly clear space for grains is showing results. As on April 30, FCI’s total storage capacity which includes covered area plinth(sacks of grains kept in elevated platform and covered with plastic sheets) stood at 32 million tonnes, while the stock in hand was 24.64 million tonnes.