Lok Sabha Question No. 3664 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-16
Subject: Storage of Rotten Foodgrains in FCI Godowns
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Vellalath Kochukrishnan Nair. Sreekandan, Rajendra Agrawal

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3664 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 TH  JULY, 2019

## STORAGE OF ROTTEN FOODGRAINS IN FCI GODOWNS

3664.  SHRI V.K. SREEKANDAN:

SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL:

Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC be  pleased  to

DISTRIBUTION उपभोक्ता त मल , ाखतद्ा औा तावर्ज�ाका्औता  मं state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  in  many  godowns  of  Food Corporation of India (FCI) rotten foodgrains are stored for years without any movement;
- (b) whether the Government has asked the FCI to come out with details of such rotten foodgrain stores in their godowns across the country with reasons, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the  details  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the agricultural  produce  storage  facilities  in  view  of  the  rotting  away  of
- foodgrains;
- (d) whether  any  steps  have  been  taken  for  expansion  of  storage facilities of Food Corporation of India in various States; and
- (e)
- if so, the details thereof?

A N S W E R MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI   DANVE  RAOSAHEB   DADARAO)

- (a) & (b): The  foodgrains  procured  for  Central  Pool  and  available  with the  Food  Corporation  of  India  (FCI)  are  generally  stored  in  a  scientific manner  in  covered  godowns,  with  various  preservation  measures  like fumigation  and  treatment  with  pesticides.  Inspite  of  all  precautions, small  quantity  of  foodgrains  may  become  non-issuable  due  to  various reasons like natural calamities, damages in transit. Out of the quantity of 1165 MT of damaged foodgrains lying with FCI, only 15 MT is more than one year old which could not be disposed off due to reasons that it either fetched  lower  price  than  reserve  price  or  did  not  fetch  any  rate  in  the tender sale. Remaining 1150 MT are less than one year old and are being taken up by FCI for sale.

............2/-

(c): Government  monitors  and  reviews  the  available  storage  capacity from time to time taking into consideration of procurement of foodgrains, offtake under Public Distribution System  (PDS) and other Welfare Schemes (OWS). Depending upon requirement in specific areas and for modernization of storage facilities, the Government has been implementing  the  following  schemes  for  construction  of  godowns  and silos in the country for storage of central pool stocks:

- (i) Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) scheme,
- (ii) Central Sector scheme and
- (iii) Construction of Steel silos.

The details of the steps taken by FCI for safe storage of foodgrains to avoid rottening are in Annexure.

(d) & (e):   FCI continuously assesses and monitors the storage capacity in the country and based on the requirement and storage gap assessment, storage capacities are created under the aforesaid schemes.  The  total  storage  capacity  available  with  FCI  and  State agencies for storage of foodgrain stocks meant for PDS/NFSA (across the country),  as  on  31.05.2019  is,  862.45  Lakh  MT,  of  which  400.83  LMT  is with FCI and  461.62 LMT is hired.

Further, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare implements a capital  investment  subsidy  sub-scheme  namely  'Agricultural  Marketing Infrastructure (AMI)' under Integrated Scheme for Agricultural marketing (ISAM)  with  two  distinct  marketing  infrastructure  components  i.e.  (i) Storage Infrastructure in rural area (ii) other than storage infrastructure. Since  inception  of  the  scheme  and  upto  31.03.2019,  a  total  of  38,964 storage infrastructure projects (godowns), with storage capacity of 65.54 million MT were sanctioned under AMI sub-scheme of ISAM.

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ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c)  OF THE UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.3664  DUE  FOR  ANSWERED  ON  16.07.2019  IN  THE  LOK SABHA.

The details of the steps taken by Food Corporation of India for safe storage of foodgrains to avoid rotting of foodgrains are as under:

- (i)
- All godowns are constructed as per specifications.
- (ii) Foodgrains  are  stored  by  adopting  proper  scientific  code  of storage practices.
- (iii) Adequate  dunnage  materials  such  as  wooden  crates,  bamboo mats,  polythene  sheets  are  used  to  check  migration  of  moisture from the floor to the foodgrains.
- (iv) Fumigation covers, nylon ropes, nets and insecticides for control of stored grain insect pests are provided in all the godowns.
- (v) Prophylactic  (spraying  of  insecticides)  and  curative  treatments (fumigation) are carried out regularly and timely in godowns for the control of stored grain insect pests.
- (vi) Effective  rat  control  measures,  both  in  covered  godowns  as  well as in CAP storage are used.
- (vii) Foodgrains  in  'Cover  and  Plinth'  (CAP)  storage  are  stored  on elevated plinths and wooden crates are used as dunnage material. Stacks  are  properly  covered  with  specifically  fabricated  lowdensity  black  polythene  water  -proof  covers  and  tied  with  nylon ropes/nets.
- (viii)  Regular periodic inspections of the stocks/ godowns are undertaken  by  qualified  and  trained  staff  and  all  senior  officers. The health of the foodgrains is monitored at regular intervals by a system of checks and super checks at different levels. Following Checks and Super checks are conducted in the godowns by FCI to ensure proper preservation of foodgrains in the storage.
- a) Fortnightly inspection of  stocks  on  100%  basis  by Technical Assistant.
- b)
- c)
- d)
- Monthly inspection by Manager(QC)
- Quaterly inspection by AGM(QC)
- Super Checks by Regional, Zonal and FCI Hqrs Squads.
- (ix) The principle of 'First in First Out' (FIFO) is followed to the extent possible so as to avoid longer storage of foodgrains in godowns.
- (x)
- (xi)
- Identify & repair all the leakage point in the roof.
- Cleaning of drainages in the godown premises ensured.
- (xii)  Ensure no seepage inside the godowns.
- (xiii)  No clogging up of water in the premises.
- (xiv)  Immediate action to segregate  &  recondition of the stocks whenever it gets affected.

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