Nearly 1 lakh tonne foodgrain lost in FCI godowns: K V Thomas, Food minister

NEW DELHI: About 0.87 lakh tonne foodgrain was lost in the FCI godowns till September this fiscal due to factors like moisture, rats, birds and general spoilage, Parliament was informed today.

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 K V 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 "draige 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.