Question : STORAGE OF FOODGRAINS

(a) the quantum of wheat, rice and coarse grains procured by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from the States including Bihar during the last three years;

(b) the number of godowns rented by the FCI along with the storage capacity of each godown, State-wise;

(c) the quantum of the said commodities stored in the godowns and the quantum damaged in godowns and open storage during the said period, State-wise including Bihar; and

(d) the number of letters received by the FCI from Members of Parliament with regard to purchase of rice etc. in Bihar along with the action taken thereon?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (PROF. K.V. THOMAS)

(a) The quantity of wheat and rice procured by the Food Corporation of India from States including Bihar during the last three years is given at Annexure I. The statement showing the statewise procurement of coarsegrains during the last three years is given at Annexure-II.

(b) & (c) Information is being collected and will be laid on the Table of the House.

(d) Two references from Hon`ble Members of Parliament were received in the Department of Food & PD with regard to procurement of paddy / rice in Bihar, one from Dr. Bhola Nath, M.P under Rule 377 vide letter of Lok Sabha Secretariat dated 19.12.2012 directly, and the other one raised by Shri Jagdanand Singh, M.P in Zero Hour of Lok Sabha on 29.11.2012, intimated to the Department of Food & PD through the letter of Department of Agriculture and Co-operation dated 04.01.2013, forwarding the letter of Parliament Secretariat dated 07.12.2012, enclosing the extracts of proceedings of concerned Zero Hour of Lok Sabha. With regards to the first reference, a report has been obtained from Food Corporation of India (FCI), and a reply is being sent to the Hon`ble M.P from the Department. With regard to the second reference, the matter has been examined through FCI, and based on their reports, a reply has been sent to the Hon`ble M.P by Hon`ble MOS(IC)CA,F&PD informing him that procurement of rice for Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2012-13 is going on through the State agencies in Bihar and nearly 8,000 purchase centres have been opened through the Primary Agriculture Credit Co-operative Society (PACS) in the State. 534 purchase centres have been opened at block level by Bihar State Food Corporation (BSFC). FCI is providing necessary support by providing technical manpower, storage facilities etc for these procurement operations.

With regard to the letters of Hon`ble M.Ps received in Food Corporation of India (FCI) directly, the information is being collected and it will be laid on the Table of the House..