The Union Minister of state for Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution CR Chaudhari has directed the officers of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to expedite the unloading of wheat sack laden trucks under central pool. He said that a decision would soon be taken by the central Government for payment of wheat price against the delivered wheat in order to ward off any difficulty either to farmers or the state government.
UP Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi said that the procured wheat was being sent by about 10,000 trucks daily to the warehouses of FCI, but only 5000 trucks were being unloaded. This situation makes the trucks to keep waiting for unloading for several days and forces the government to pay more transportation cost unnecessarily, besides interrupting delivery of wheat from purchase centres to warehouses in want of trucks.
He urged the Union Minister to direct the concerning officers to pay attention to this problem and resolve it at the earliest. Referring to reluctance of FCI in purchasing the wheat, which has lost its lustre due to rains, he requested the Central Minister to urge the Government of India to grant a relaxation in this regard.