: Nearly 3,200 metric tonnes of wheat meant for public distribution and lying in open plinths for the last three years at a grain market in Pundri in Kaithal district has decayed due to official apathy and negligence.
Since the quality of the wheat is very poor and not edible, there are reports that the damaged wheat has already been declared as non-issuable by the Food Corporation of India.
The rotted wheat would have been given as one month’s ration to around 6.40 lakh people under the Haryana food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department’s public distribution system that distributes 5kgs per person per month.
The officials said that the estimated cost of the decayed wheat is around ₹ 6.50 crore. It was stored in open for the past three years after its procurement during the 2019-20 rabi marketing season.
It is learnt that Kaithal district food and supplies controller (DFSC) has already written to the higher authorities for action against the officials responsible for this huge loss to the state government.
However, Kaithal DFSC Pramod Kumar could not be contacted through repeated phone calls and text messages.
Kaithal district food and supplies officer Pardeep Kumar said that he has recently joined and he did not have much information about this incident.
Mukul Kumar, director, food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department said that the matter is being looked into and necessary action will be taken. On whether the FCI has declared it as non-issuable is also being checked, he said.
This is not the first incidence of procured wheat getting damaged in the government godowns as thousands of rotten bags of wheat were found in the open plinths of the Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (Hafed) in Indri in Karnal in February this year and later two officials were suspended for negligence. ENDS
