Cuttack: Absolute, ravaging hunger has driven slum dwellers in Odisha to dig up wasted food grain by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and eat it for their survival. The 1,206 bags of PDS rice belonging to the FCI were supposed to feed empty stomachs. Instead, they lay rotting in Cuttack's railway goods shed for the last nine months, stuck in a red-tape tussle between the railways and the FCI over storage issues.
Finally on Wednesday, the Railways buried the 1,206 bags of rice near Cuttack.
Surprisingly, a significant amount of the rice was apparently in good condition and though the poor locals pleaded the authorities, they were not allowed to take away the rice.
"We saw that the rice was in good condition. So we wanted to take it home. I don't understand why they dumped this rice here. They could have distributed it to us. When they were dumping it, we asked them to give it to us but they refused," said a local resident....
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06:28 AM, Aug 12, 2012
Kota: Even as the rest of the north of the country bears with an unforgiving summer season and a drought-like situation in many of its parts, in Rajasthan, grain rot continues and it is not a meager amount. Nearly Rs 2 crore worth of wheat still remains in the open. CNN-IBN visited a farmer family in Kota which had just enough grain to last it four weeks. The irony is...
08:45 AM, Jul 05, 2012
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...
10:42 AM, May 23, 2012
The country is on the verge of record harvest, and yet for a third consecutive year, there is simply no space for storage. ...
11:04 PM, May 09, 2012
Palwal: CNN-IBN had in June 2011 brought you the shocking story of grain rot, decay and decomposition in the Deoli village of Palwal district in Haryana. Shot during monsoons, the grain procured by HAFED and CONFED was infested with worms and exposed to rain. In May 2012, CNN-IBN revisited the same storage yard only to discover that the condition has worsened. Grain procured to be the country's buffer and feed...
09:25 PM, May 09, 2012
Chandigarh: In a shocker from Punjab and Haryana, official indifference has led to more grain troubles. Despite a bumper harvests in both states, tonnes of wheat are rotting in the open. In Chandigarh, the local traders were left with nothing after majority of the wheat was procured by six government procuring agencies. The Food Corporation has already warned the Centre to take corrective measures to check the rotting. Meanwhile, adding...
10:24 AM, May 04, 2012
Chandigarh: While farmers in Bundelkhand are worried about poor produce, Punjab is experiencing a problem of plenty. The state has recorded a bumper harvest and has once again run out of space to store the grain. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has blamed the Centre for the grain storage problem. He says the state godowns are stocked to full capacity. "Grain storage is a huge problem. It is a...
11:20 AM, May 02, 2012
Two days after CNN-IBN's report on the grain rot, Food minister KV Thomas takes responsibility and promises action. ...
08:56 AM, Aug 11, 2011
New Delhi: Over 7 lakh tonnes of freshly procured wheat is lying in the open and the Madhya Pradesh government is claiming it has exhausted all its storage options. Private godown owners, however, have complained to the state chief Minister alleging godowns are lying vacant and have not been taken on rent as they refused to bribe officials. With the monsoon expected to reach Madhya Pradesh in two weeks, it...
10:37 AM, May 31, 2011
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has stepped in to stop the rotting of grain. Just hours after CNN-IBN reported a record harvest of grain rotting because of lack of storage facilities Reddy has appointed a team of 10 IAS officers to supervise paddy procurement and has issued instructions to minimise wastage by ensuring a supply of gunny bags to warehouses. He has also reportedly asked officials to...
08:40 PM, May 11, 2011
