62,000 tonne: Foodgrain wasted by FCI

While India ranks 55th in the Global Hunger Index (GHI), an RTI reply has revealed that around 62,000 tonnes of foodgrains, mainly rice and wheat have been damaged in the godowns of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in the last six years with Maharashtra topping the list of states. Every year, crores of rupees are spent to prevent decay and then again a whooping sum is spent to dispose of the piled up waste.

The RTI reply given by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has pegged the damaged foodgrains grains to 61,824 tonnes between 2011-12 and 2016-17. The FCI has 1,889 warehouses across the country. Many of them located in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur did not report any damages. According to an estimate, the wasted grains could have fed 8 lakh poor people under the National Food Security Act for an entire year.

In 2016-17 (up to March 1), a damage of 8,679 tonnes of foodgrains was reported, with Maharashtra topping the list of states with 7,963 tonnes. Sources said there are various reasons for the damage of foodgrains, including pest attacks, leakages in godowns, procurement of poor quality stocks, exposure to rains, floods, and negligence on the part of the persons concerned in taking precautionary measures.

India has a total storage capacity of 811 lakh tonnes for central pool stocks, which is much more than the capacity required. In 2016-2017, the required capacity for central pool stocks (stock position) was 534 lakh tonnes. The government has also issued guidelines for the disposal of damaged foodgrains. Accordingly, the FCI plans to sell from its various depots, damaged foodgrains (mainly wheat and rice) unfit for human consumption as manure, feed for animals and for industrial purposes.

As per a survey by the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, only 10 per cent foods get cold storage facility in India.

...& ANALYSIS

• One of the main problems for this wastage is the lack of storage space.
   
• In states like Punjab, reported pilferage is the biggest problem.
   
• At time, procured wheat stored in various state government-owned godowns is lost to theft.
   
• Sometimes, thieves pour water on the wheat sacks so they appear heavier.