BJD MPs meet Piyush Goyal, demand rice evacuation

The delegation maintained that the State’s storage capacity will be overflowing and cannot accommodate the surplus rice.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal (Photo | PTI)
Union Minister Piyush Goyal (Photo | PTI)

BHUBANESWAR: A delegation of BJD MPs on Monday met Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal at New Delhi and demanded early evacuation of rice and release of pending subsidy.The Union Minister assured that he will take it up with the Central government and ensure that Odisha’s just demands are fulfilled. The delegation apprised the Union Minister that Odisha’s own consumption under the public distribution system (PDS) and other welfare schemes come to around 24 lakh tonne of rice which will result in an estimated surplus of around 30 lakh tonne. 

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has till March 13, 2021 evacuated 6.65 lakh tonne of rice, the MPs said and added that the movement plan has been reduced substantially for March, 2021. Stating that with this pace, the surplus rice cannot be evacuated by the start of next kharif marketing season (KMS), the MPs said this will greatly hamper the ensuing Rabi procurement.

The delegation maintained that the State’s storage capacity will be overflowing and cannot accommodate the surplus rice. Stating that one lakh tonne of rice will be lost due to deterioration in quality costing Rs 320 crore for the exchequer, the MPs maintained that if like last year the FCI lifts only 17 lakh tonne of rice, then 13 tonne will be left with the State. This will be a loss of around Rs 4,160 crore for the State, they added.

Besides, Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC) which procures paddy has borrowed Rs 19,000 crore by way of upfront investment. The high volume of subsidy is mainly due to non-release of subsidy by the Centre, the MPs said and added that OSCSC has pending subsidy claims of Rs 5,616 crore. They pointed out that all resources including the sanctioned limit of bank finances have been exhausted by the OSCSC. 

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