The employees of the major public sector buyer of the grains, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) came up with an unusual explanation for disappearance of thousands of tonnes of grains from a warehouse in Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad district - rats and birds.
Senior FCI officials, who conducted a surprise check at the warehouse on Wednesday, found that 50,000 tonnes of wheat and rice had gone missing from the warehouse during the past one year.
Godown staff entrusted with the responsibility for the stocks, told them that rats and birds consumed the grains, worth about Rs 3 crore.
Confronted, the employees said a large number of rats in the depot and birds that flocked the large number of trees in the warehouse consumed the missing grain, the officials said.
“You can either take care of the grains or the environment,” said a depot employee sarcastically when asked to explain the missing food grains.
Not convinced, the FCI has lodged an FIR against a dozen employees deployed at the warehouse, charging them with laxity and possible diversion of grains to the black market. “An inquiry has also been ordered and stern action will be taken against the guilty,” the officials said.
The lack of proper storage facilities and laxity on the part of officials has resulted in a bumper harvest of food grains disappearing from the government warehouses in Uttar Pradesh.
Grains worth crores rot as the government agencies that procure them from the farmers do not ensure proper storage. Many a time, the grain is left in the open to either rot or be consumed by stray animals.