Over 540 Tonnes Of Indian Food-Grains Damaged This Year: Govt

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NEW DELHI – Over 540 tonnes of food-grains, half of this in West Bengal, has been damaged in the country till July this year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

A total of 541.33 tonnes of wheat and rice have been damaged in the country till July 1 this year, minister of state for food and consumer affairs K V Thomas said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

Giving commodity-wise break-up, he said while 359.07 tonnes of rice was damaged the share of wheat is 182.26 tonnes in the current year.

Region-wise, West Bengal accounted for damage of 355 tonnes of wheat and rice, the minister said.

The rest of the non-issuable (damaged) foodgrains have been found in Gujarat (171 tonnes), Uttar Pradesh (11 tonnes) and Andhra Pradesh (4.33 tonnes), the minister said.

The unpleasant event was not confined to this year only, he said, adding, a total of 6,702 tonnes of wheat and rice was damaged in 2009-10, while in 2010-11 the quantity was 6,346 tonnes.

Thomas said the foodgrain got damaged due to storage problem, transit, cyclones/flood/rains and in some cases owing to negligence of officials.

He said in cases where negligence of officials have been established, strict disciplinary action has been taken against them.