Chandigarh, Sep 18 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday sought the intervention of the Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister to direct the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to create sufficient space for the delivery of rice.
In a letter to the Union minister, Mann flagged the issue of a serious lack of delivery space with the FCI. The Chief Minister said there has been a space crunch with the FCI since May which has hampered the delivery of rice by rice millers of the state to FCI in the central pool.
He said it has also led to apprehension amongst the rice millers about the space crunch during 2024-25.
The Chief Minister said despite the best efforts of the state and the rice millers, so far 98.35 per cent of all due rice could be delivered to the FCI. He said owing to the persistent space deficit, the state was constrained to seek an extension in the milling period first till July 31 and then till August 31.
Mann said due to the pendency of rice pertaining to 2023-24 owing to the space crunch, the Central government has further extended the delivery period till September 30.
The Chief Minister said the state government has been regularly taking up the issue of space shortage with the Centre. He said the state has sought immediate redressal by mobilisation of additional rakes of wheat and paddy to the state.
Mann said while the state government is making all-out efforts to ensure that pending rice is delivered to the FCI at the earliest, the issue of space shortage with the FCI assumes greater salience with the ensuing kharif marketing season.
The Chief Minister said during the upcoming season around 185-190 lakh metric tons of paddy is expected to be procured resulting in the production of 120-125 lakh metric tons of rice for the central pool.
He underscored that as of now, against a total covered space of 171 lakh metric tons available in the state, nearly 121 lakh metric tons of rice and 50 lakh metric tons of wheat are lying stored in the covered godowns and there is no space available to accommodate the fresh rice crop.
--IANS
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