Haryana: Don't issue gunny bags to mandis...procure wheat from farmers & store in Adani's silos, says FCI

In an alleged case of favouritism and promotion of 'cronies' associated with the ruling party, the Kurukshetra division of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) asked various agro bodies such as HAIC, HWSC and HAFED to procure wheat from farmers and store at Adani’s silos in bulk.

The FCI, a statutory body which comes under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution was founded in 1951 with an aim to “safeguard interests of the poor farmers and to ensure supply of food grains for the PDS”.

Not only this, the FCI has directed the local administration “not to issue gunny bags to Mandi near Adani silos” also.

“In meeting, it was also decided not to issue any gunny bags in the nearby mandis of Adani Silo, Solumajra. So, bulk direct delivery of wheat from farmers may be ensured from Dhand, Kaul, Pehowa, Pal, Pundri, Soumajra, Gumthala, Garu mandis etc,” reads the internal communique issued by the FCI.

“Therefore, it is requested to instruct your subordinated/field staff, not to issue any gunny bag in nearby mandies of Adani silo. So that the bulk direct delivery of wheat from farmers may be ensured,” added the communique.

According to information provided by Adani Group, the company has spent Rs 700 crores to build Silo Grain Storage infrastructure in past few years.

“This project was envisaged by GOI under the National Policy on Bulk Handling, Storage and Transportation in 2000,” said the Adani Group.

The Group claimed that the Silo projects were awarded to the company by the FCI on a competitive bidding basis.

Currently, the company owns silos in Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, WB, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

It is worth mentioning here that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in April 2018 had reprimanded the FCI for causing a loss of Rs 6.49 crore to the taxpayers due to the failure to utilise available storage capacity at Adani silos located in Kaithal, Haryana.

Interestingly, paragraphs criticising the FCI were later dropped from the CAG’s audit report. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution under which the FCI comes, had written the letter to CAG.