Grain rotting: Pungrain, FCI to reply in court

Chandigarh: Pungrain (Punjab Grains Procurement Corporation Ltd)and the FCI (Food Corportation of India) are expected to submit their replies in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday in response to a petition filed over the wastage of grain in the state.

A CNN-IBN report had revealed that the Punjab government was not using godowns to store grain and had left them to rot out in the open. It had also found that rotten grain was being sold at half the procurement price to liquor distilleries.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had, however, blamed the Centre for the grain storage problem. He had claimed that the state godowns were stocked to the full capacity.

Pungrain and the FCI will submit their replies in response to a petition filed over wastage of grain in the state.

"Grain storage is a huge problem. It is a problem created by the government of India. We are a country with no concept of planning. We wait till the last minute before tackling the problem," Badal had said.

CNN-IBN has been showing how tonnes of foodgrain werer left to rot out in the open during the monsoon in several states over the last two years.

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