Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said during Question Hour that additional foodgrains worth around Rs 1.79 crore was damaged in storage in godowns of state-run Food Corporation of India. The maximum damage was reported from Bihar and Karnataka.
He promised a "probe" when Congress member Satyavrat Chaturvedi alleged a "big scam" in foodgrains being allowed to rot "deliberately" so that they can be utilised for making liquor.
As per the data placed before the Upper House, the losses due to transit was maximum in Punjab, where 13,200 tonnes of foodgrains worth Rs 27.52 crore were lost in transportation.
In Uttar Pradesh, the loss in transit was 10,100 tonnes valued at Rs 19.38 crore while the loss in Maharashtra was to the tune of Rs 19.27 crore.
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Paswan said the country has a total storage capacity of 762.87 lakh tonnes of foodgrains.
"Security inspection as well as surprise checks of the depots are being conducted from time to time at various levels to detect and plug any security lapse. FIRs have also been lodged with the police where pilferage has come to notice. Apart from this, departmental action including recovery of loss has been resorted to act as a deterrent," he said.
The minister was replying to a question by Congress member Shadi Lal Batra about the quantum and value of foodgrains lost due to pilferage, unsafe storage and damage during their transit and the steps taken by the government to prevent it.