Speed up grains’ procurement, govt told

patna: a division bench of the patna high court comprising chief justice ravi s dhavan and justice shashank k singh has asked the bihar government to expedite procurement of food grains in the state and directed the food corporation of india (fci) to cooperate in the effort. hearing a pil on low procurement of food grains by the fci in buxar district, the bench on monday asked the state food secretary to explain his department’s “dismal performance�.the petitioner’s counsel mrigank mauli said farmers are forced to make distress sale of paddy in order to meet their needs as the procurement by the fci is at a very low level with only 40 such centres in operation in bihar. while preparation for procurement of kharif output has started in punjab and haryana, the procurement of even paddy in bihar is yet to begin in right earnest. justice dhavan observed that the number of procurement centres in bihar is indeed very small. he said all agencies need to coordinate their efforts to provide succour to the suffering farmers. he wondered why the fci is not procuring rice instead of paddy. senior union government counsel p k shahi blamed the bihar government for the low procurement, submitting that it is not the job of the fci. he said in other states, the state government concerned directly buys and hands over the food grains to the fci. but the bihar government has introduced intermediaries — primary agriculture cooperative societies — which has added to the problem. it was decided at a meeting of the secretary of the union food and public distribution ministry with his bihar counterpart that the state government would facilitate procurement through the primary cooperatives and that the fci would buy only rice, he added. shahi said the fci’s godowns in the state are overflowing as the bihar government has not lifted six lakh tonnes of rice meant for supply to the people living below the poverty line and even to those above it. the state government has not lifted its quota of wheat as well. the procurement through primary cooperatives is also adding to the woes of the farmers.