New Delhi, Apr 3 ( The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has moved 477 railway rakes carrying 13.36 lakh tonne of foodgrains for PDS distribution since the lockdown, to ensure over 81 crore beneficiaries do no go hungry, the Food Ministry said on Friday.
A total of 69 rakes are under loading on Friday which could transport 1.93 lakh tonne of foodgrain stocks, the ministry said in a statement.
The state-owned corporation has transported foodgrains from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha to other states.
About 7.76 lakh tonne rice and 5.60 lakh tonne wheat, totalling 13.36 lakh tonne, has been moved through rail rakes from these states.
During the current lockdown period, the ministry said FCI is ensuring "uninterrupted" supply of wheat and rice throughout the country.
The agency is able to meet the increasing demand of foodgrains by gearing up the pace of supply of wheat and rice throughout the country, mostly by rail, it added.
FCI is the nodal agency involved in procurement and distribution of foodgrains in the country. It procures wheat and rice to ensure farmers get a minimum support price. It distributes the same foodgrains at a subsidised rates to over 81 crore ration card holders under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
The ministry said FCI is fully prepared to meet not only the foodgrain requirement under the National Food Security law but also the additional supply of 5 kg per person for next three months under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMKAY).
As on April 1, FCI had a foodgrain stock of 56.24 million tonne, of which rice was 31.64 million tonne and wheat 24.6 million tonne.
Besides, FCI is offloading surplus grains to bulk users under the open market sales scheme (OMSS) through e-auction. So far, it has received bids for purchase of 1.44 lakh tonne of wheat and 77,000 tonne of rice.
In view of the outbreak of COVID-19, FCI has allowed states to lift a fixed quota of grains at a reserve price under the OMSS without participating in e-auction. It has given a quota of 1 lakh tonne of wheat for 10 states, while 94,767 tonne of rice for six states. LUX SHW ANUANU
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