A special squad of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) that visited the godown at Mulangunnathukavu, near here, on Monday gave a clean chit to the local FCI officials on an allegation that tonnes of foodgrains hoarded at the warehouse were destroyed.
The team, led by Assistant General Manager (Quality Control) of the FCI, Alagar Swamy, said the destroyed foodgrains were rotten, which could not be used even for making poultry feed.
“What the officials had done was a usual procedure with the FCI. A few tonnes of foodgrains brought to Mulangunnathukavu were damaged during transportation. Though the FCI called tender for selling it for making poultry feed, nobody came forward. So the rotten foodgrains were buried. The officials cannot be blamed for it.”
He said only 1.5 tonnes of goodgrains were buried at the Mulangunnathukavu godown, which stored tens of thousands of tonnes of foodgrains.
Meanwhile, activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party and All India Democratic Women’s Association took out marches to the FCI godown on Monday.
“When the State is facing acute scarcity of rice, tonnes of foodgrains are getting rotten in the FCI godowns. The Chief Minister is turning a blind eye to this fact. He is trying to protect the interests of private rice mills,” said BJP State general secretary A.N. Radhakrishnan.
The FCI godown, which used to distribute 1,500 tonnes of rice through PDS (public distribution system) shops monthly, is now distributing only 400 tonnes, he alleged.
BJP State vice-president Rama Raghunandanan, district president B. Gopalakrishnan and others spoke.
Hundreds of women under the banner of the All India Democratic Women’s Association asked the government to take stern action against the officials responsible for the incident. The government should take immediate steps to distribute the rice stored in the FCI godowns, they demanded.
