New Delhi: The Arvind Kejriwal administration in Delhi and the Modi government are locked in a battle over wheat procurement for the ongoing Rabi marketing season 2021-22, which began 1 April.
On Wednesday, the Delhi government accused the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of not opening any centre for wheat procurement at minimum support price (MSP) in Delhi. However, senior officials in the ministry have dismissed the claim, and said the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has started the purchase of wheat at MSP at three different locations in the national capital.
Procurement centres have been established at FSD Mayapuri, FSD Narela, and the APMC mandi at Najafgarh, they added, and said wheat began to be procured on 1 April. Over 15.8 metric tonnes of wheat has been procured at the centres so far.
Speaking to ThePrint, Sudhanshu Pandey, Secretary for the Department of Food and Public Distribution, said the FCI will soon post pictures of procurement operations in Delhi to substantiate their claim — a statement he reiterated on Twitter Thursday.
FCI will soon post pictures of these procurement operations in Delhi to substantiate their claim.@PMOIndia @PiyushGoyal @PiyushGoyalOffc @PIBConsumerFood
— Sudhanshu Pandey (@Secretary_DFPD) April 8, 2021
The FCI’s North Zone department, which oversees foodgrain procurement and distribution in 10 states and Union Territories, subsequently posted pictures to show “procurement operations in Delhi region”. In a press release issued Thursday, the FCI accused the Delhi government of not cooperating with it in the procurement exercise.
In Delhi, wheat is cultivated in a very small area across Narela, Bawana, Mundka, Najafgarh, and Mehrauli.
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Delhi minister hits out at Centre
At a press conference Wednesday, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai had said that the FCI had not yet opened counters for wheat procurement at MSP in the capital.
“The FCI has not opened a single counter for wheat procurement in Delhi, yet it is making false claims of purchasing crops at MSP rates from 1 April. Despite three letters of plea addressed to the FCI, it has not opened its wheat procurement counters, forcing farmers to sell their wheat below MSP through commissioning agents,” he added.
“The central government determines the MSP and the FCI purchases, but the BJP is falsely accusing the Delhi government of not buying wheat at MSP,” said Rai, who is also in charge of the Agriculture Department in Delhi.
Edited by Sunanda Ranjan
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