Centre ready to supply foodgrains on credit to flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir

NEW DELHI: The Centre today said there is enough foodgrains stock in flood-affected Jammu and Kashmir and offered to provide wheat and rice on credit basis if the state government so demands. "There is a crisis in the state. We are ready to give foodgrains under credit to the state government.

We do not have shortage of stocks," Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters here. There is two months of foodgrains stock to meet the requirement in Kashmir. The FCI officials are stationed in the region to ensure adequate supply to flood-hit people, he said.

One of the godowns, having a capacity of over 8,000 tonnes, has been affected in the state, he added. Earlier this week, Paswan had held a review meeting to take stock of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

He had asked the Food Corporation of India (FCI) officials to camp at Srinagar and closely monitor availability of foodgrains in the flood affected areas of the state.

The hilly state is facing the worst floods in 109 years. Rescuers today evacuated another 32,500 people to safety taking to 80,000 the number of people pulled out in a continuing multi-agency mammoth operation even as an estimated five to six lakh people still wait for help.