Covid-19 impact: Punjab govt clears 20 mn metric tonnes of grain stock

In order to ensure food availability to the poor amid Covid lockdown, the Centre is giving an increased allocation of 5 kg food grains per person and one kg of pulses per household

The dreaded coronavirus pandemic has emerged to be a ‘bright spot’ for Punjab as increased demand for foodgrains has helped clear 20 million metric tonnes of stock that was clogging its storage facilities since the last three years, finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal told Business Standard.

“While we are fighting Covid, it is also a bright spot for Punjab. We were sitting on almost 20 million metric tonnes of foodgrains that the government of India was not evacuating as there was no demand. Now the demand has significantly gone up. With no passenger train traffic, 30 odd trains are carrying