New Delhi: About 0.87 lakh tonne foodgrains
was lost in the FCI godowns till September this fiscal due to
factors like moisture, rats, birds and general spoilage,
Parliament was informed on Monday.
In 2010-11, the foodgrain loss was 1.56 lakh tonne, while
it was 1.31 lakh tonnes in 2009-10 and 0.58 lakh tonnes in
2008-09, Food Minister KV Thomas said in a written reply to
the Rajya Sabha.
Thomas said that as reported by Food Corporation of India
(FCI), some losses occurred during storage operations.
These losses occurred in FCI godowns due to "drainage of
moisture, long storage, rat & bird trouble, multiple handling
by labourers and spillage etc," he added.
The minister said there is no separate agency to look
into these problems, adding that the depot-wise monthly
storage losses in FCI is monitored at district, regional,
zonal and headquarter level.
Thomas said efforts are made to control the losses in the
FCI godowns, but where such losses are found to be abnormal,
the same are investigated and disciplinary action taken
against the guilty officials.
He said various steps have been taken to minimise the
storage losses. These include measures such as installation of
barbed wire fencing of the boundary walls, street lights for
illumination of godowns and proper locking of the shades.
Besides, security staff of FCI as well other agencies
like Home Guards, special police officers are deployed for
safety of the stocks, the minister said, adding that 50 kg
packing is used in a phased manner to avoid hooks.
PTI
First Published: Monday, December 19, 2011, 15:59