The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded the setting up of a parliamentary committee to look into the alleged neglect by the Food Corporation of India as 72 lakh tonnes of wheat is rotting, having been kept in open warehouses for over a year.
A surprise visit by the former BJP president, Rajnath Singh, and partymen to warehouses in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh revealed “criminal neglect” by FCI authorities. Samples of the rotten wheat were collected. Mr. Singh said he intended raising the matter in Parliament on Monday. Samples of rotten wheat would be given to the Speaker. At Bhagola in Palval district, over 2,00,000 bags were lying in the open; 3,50,000 bags were lying in similar conditions in Hathin and Sondh; and worst conditions prevailed in Alhapur and Firozpur.
At a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Singh said that of the 183 lakh tonnes of wheat with the FCI, more than 80 lakh tonnes was lying in the open. He gave detailed region-wise statistics.
Expressing a fear that the FCI would mix rotten wheat with the rest and send the consignment to fair price shops through the public distribution system, he said this practice should be stopped.
Mr. Singh demanded that a parliamentary committee be formed to visit the warehouses and responsibility be fixed for the state of affairs. What was deplorable was that when people were dying of hunger and the prices of cereals had skyrocketed, utter neglect by the FCI had led to such large quantities of grain being destroyed, he said.