1. In a country where millions go hungry every day and
where food prices are breaking the back of the
common man, a bumper harvest is rotting in
godowns. Headlines Today correspondents across
the country found the shocking truth.
Instead of trying to solve the problem, the
government plans to increase procurement and has
also disallowed exports to meet the projected
requirement of grain under the proposed Food
Security Act.
Estimates are that food grain production including
wheat, rice, pulses and coarse cereals will go up to a
record 235.88 million tones this year compared to
the earlier record of 234.47 million tones in 2008-09.

2. Hundreds of tones of wheat and rice are rotting in godowns
across the nation - the reason being there is simply no space. So,
while paddy sacks are dumped inside classrooms in Andhra
Pradesh, wheat is left to rot on the roadside in Kurkshetra and
sacks can be seen lining up parking lots of residential areas in the
fertile wheat belt of Punjab and Haryana.
The current storage capacity is 62.8 million tones, which is
proving inadequate. India had record rice and wheat stocks of
65.6 million tones in its godowns in early June. Officials say the
problem will only get worse after the kharif harvest arrives by
September-October.

3. Madhya Pradesh, which has seen a huge increase in procurement
lately, faces big problems. Forty-nine lakh metric ton of wheat was
procured this year too despite the fact that over five lakh metric
tons of wheat was already there in the godowns. Now, over 18
lakh metric tons of grain are lying out in the open at the mercy of
the weather Gods.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said, "The food grains will
rot soon. I have spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh."
The bumper rot is in spite of the Supreme Court's 2010 directive
to the Centre to ensure free distribution of food grains to the
hungry poor of the country instead of allowing it to rot in the FCI
godowns.

4. Blame game
With the government clearly unequipped to deal with the grim
situation, states and the Centre are now busy in a blame game
while the grain is not made available to those who need it - a
starving population, BPL families or cattle.
A bumper crop in states like Punjab, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh
has become a bane.
Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Badal says, "We can't do
anything. It's the decision of the government of India. It's been two
years...we saw the crisis coming. The government of India would
be responsible for this crisis."
There may be still time to salvage the situation if the states and
the central government were to take corrective measures
together.

5. The Union Food Minister has charged the Bihar government
of not lifting additional grain allotted to the state by the
Centre.
In Patna's Phulwarisharif, Headlines Today cameras
recorded an FCI godown complex overflowing with grain.
Stored in the open, the monsoon is raining havoc on the
stock.
The state government has lashed out against New Delhi for
not issuing any real help. Food and Civil Supplies Minister
Shyam Rajak says, "We need warehousing facilities to store
12 lakh metric tons of grain, but the present capacity is only
half of that. There is no assistance to remove rotting grains
either. We have written to Minister for Food & Public
Distribution K.V. Thomas and he promised to help us, but all
that was just lip service."

6. In MP, Chauhan said, “So much wheat has been
bought by the government, but there is no place
to store it. This was not anticipated even though
by and large, the purchase was done by the
agencies of MP government. We requested the
government of India repeatedly to take the
wheat, but they didn't, which has caused a lot of
problems for us.”
A lot of damage is already done and by the time
the state government and the central
government decide on a plan of action, all may
be lost.

7. 'Distribute the food'
Former FCI CMD Alok Sinha told Headlines Today, "The
inflow-outflow management of the FCI is not good. I
don't know what is government's plan is. But we should
either export the food grain or go to common man with
the Food Security Act."
"Even if a small amount of food grain is wasted, this is
nothing short of criminal. Instead of letting it rot, we
should export it. Why are we not investing in a world-
class storage facility?" political analyst Paranjoy Guha
Thakurtha asked.

8. "The finance ministry did nothing to prop up the
storage facility," agriculture scientist Devender
Sharma told Headlines Today.
On being asked why the FCI is not distributing
the food grains among the poor, Sinha said it is
only the custodian and someone has to tell it.
The government has to take a decision, he
added.