Srinagar, Nov 1: In an unprecedented move, the Food Corporation of India Kashmir has discarded its long held practice of ‘hiring’ godowns in local flour mills here for storage of wheat. Experts say the move would deprive the FCI of 30,000 MT storage the local flourmills offered to the corporation without charging rent.
 The act has evoked sharp criticism from the millers, who believe it would cause monetary losses both to them as well as the state government on account of transportation and handling the wheat to be necessitated by the move.
 Muhammad Iqbal Tramboo, a representative of the mill owners said:  The FCI every year sells a good stock of wheat to the flourmill owners in the Valley under its Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). Besides, it also supplies the rice, sugar and wheat to the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD).
 “The CAPD after getting the wheat got it grinded by the local mill owners and distributes it under Public Distribution System (PDS),” he said.
 According to mill owners by far the practice the FCI had been following for last forty years was that it would hire godowns of private mill owners in the Valley to stock its wheat, in addition to using its own storage in the Valley.
 "By this practice the FCI would manage to tackle the problem of shortage of storage in the Valley," they said.
 Tramboo said this would also help the mill owners as well as the government (CAPD) by saving their money on account handling and transportation. "With the stocks lying at our godowns, we were spared from paying huge amounts on transportation while procuring wheat under OMSS. Similarly, the government too did not require spending anything on freight and handling while issuing orders to the mill owners for grinding the wheat under PDS,” he said.
 The mill owners said they were not charging anything from the FCI for providing the godowns. “However, this would benefit us on account of freight which ultimately helped the common consumer.”
 "Since the stocks were lying within our godowns that of course remained under the lock and key of FCI, we would take the physical possession of the stocks from there only both under OMSS and PDS," they said.
 However, the mill owners alleged that state government has issued an order to the FCI asking it not to utilize the godowns of the private mill owners in the state without any “rhyme and reason.”
 The mill owners alleged that the order seems to have been issued to "benefit some transport companies whose vehicles would now be pressed into service by the CAPD for delivering the wheat to the millers."
 "What else could be the reason for someone, be it state government or the FCI, to issue such an order except to help some private transport company," they said.
 A senior official of FCI on condition of anonymity confirmed to Greater Kashmir that the practice of hiring the godowns of the local millers was discarded.  He said no supply was coming under OMSS “therefore there is no need to utilize the storage of the private millers.”
 In regard to PDS, he said: “State had lifted advance quota of one month which is to be recouped in five monthly instalments. So the supply under PDS has also reduced which eventuality reduces the need for storage,” he said.
 Director, CAPD, did not pick up the phone, when contacted for seeking his comment.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 1 Nov 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 1 Nov 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 2 Nov 2010 00:00:00 IST