Govt. prepares comprehensive plan for construction of godowns: Pawar

NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday said the Government has prepared a comprehensive plan for construction of godowns with 149 lakh tonnes of storage space for food grains.

Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, Pawar said: “The government has prepared a master plan to construct modern Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns on public-private partnership basis to prevent wastage of the food grains.”

“These will be built by Food Corporation of India (FCI) through private entrepreneurs and central and state warehousing corporations,” he added.

Pawar further said the time schedule prescribed for completion of godowns is one year from finalisation of agreement with the entrepreneur.

“The government is also taking other steps to enhance the storage capacity of food grains with a special emphasis to North Eastern region,” he claimed.

Pawar also said the government is taking all steps to bridge the gap between demand and supply in pulses though their production has not decreased, asserting that corrective measures are being taken to contain food inflation.

Earlier, the Supreme Court taking strong exceptions to the rotten food grains at various godowns and warehouses in the country, asked the Centre to distribute free food grains to the poor and hungry rather than allowing them to rot.

Reacting to media reports that lakhs of tonnes of food grains were getting spoilt under the open sky when the prices of essential commodities were going through the roof, the apex court also asked the government to strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS) in drought and flood-hit areas.

It also suggested keeping the fare prices shop open all days in a month.The Supreme Court directed the Centre to take effective steps to establish a large FCI godown in every State and small godowns in all districts. (ANI)