Govt moves 50% of wheat kept in open to safe places

Fearing damage due to rain, nearly half of the 6.6 million tonnes of wheat stored in open spaces in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh have been moved to safe places and the remaining will also be shifted by next month.

The government is grappling with the problem of plenty as its godowns are overflowing with over 82 MT of foodgrains against the storing capacity of 64 MT.

Due to inadequate storage capacity, 6.6 MT wheat are kept in 'katcha' complexes in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

"We have already moved three million tonnes of wheat on a priority basis to safe places. The remaining will be transported next month," Food Minister K V Thomas told PTI.

The Food Ministry had decided to move 6.6 million tonnes of the grain on a priority basis to save them from damages during the monsoon which has progressed across the country.

To ease the storage crisis, the ministry had asked states to lift foodgrains meant for ration shops for the next six months in advance.

Besides, the government recently decided to offload additional 8 MT of foodgrains to BPL families and to bulk consumers. It has also allowed export of 2 MT of wheat.

Speaking separately at a event organised by Assocham, Thomas said the government manages huge stock of 82 MT of foodgrains and losses are not even 1 lakh tonnes.

Foodgrains damages have come down to 0.006% now as against 2.5% five years ago, he said.