Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink, said the thirsty man floating on the sea. We have people dying of hunger, kids eating clay to stave of hunger, mothers selling children for the same reason and our agriculture minister is busy playing cricket (vicariously of course and trying to scam a T20 Team for his family!!!). A quote from the following article says: " While Pawar rollicks about as a global sports administrator, more than five million tonnes of food stocks rot annually without refrigeration, without even a tin roof or a tarpaulin cover - and this when over 63% of children in India go to bed hungry". Any honorable person would, if not kill himself like a samurai , at least hand his head in shame. Food is rotting and the PM is running around claiming 10% growth rate. Of course I naively though that "roti, kapda aur makaan" was the main focus of the government. Boy, was I wrong!! I guess the PM is too busy making pace with the Pakistanis to have a shot at the Nobel Peace prize and a legacy. What warped priorities???????
India outsources food-waste woes
By Raja Murthy
MUMBAI - The Indian government is throwing open its food storage business to the private sector and foreign investors, as well as seeking Chinese expertise, at it tries to reduce the annual US$12.2 billion worth of agricultural produce allowed to rot due to inadequate government-owned facilities.
Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar last week threatened criminal action against the wastrels. He targeted officials of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the government's food stocker and distributor, for leaving grain out in the rain during the monsoon in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.
The situation has not changed much since 2008, when Subodh Kant Sahai, minister for food processing, made the startling disclosure of $12 billion in losses of agricultural produce owing to the absence or shortage of post-harvesting infrastructure, such as cold storage chains, transportation and storage facilities.
Read More at;
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LG21Df01.html
Also Read
Don’t let food rot, improve granaries
Statistics about the extent of crops destroyed vary, but some months ago, according to one estimate obtained through the Right to Information Act, improper storage and negligence had led to 14,000 tonnes of rice, wheat and paddy becoming totally unfit for the distribution system.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comment/don%E2%80%99t-let-food-rot-improve-granaries-964
Also Read
Punjab: Food grain rots, farmers helpless
The rotting grains at Sirhind underlines the irony of Mohinder Singh's existence, a wheat farmer who lives close by and has had to borrow money to put food on the table. "The government has left the stock here for so long, it's rotting. It should give the grains to poor people like us. We worked hard to grow this grain.” says Mohinder Singh.
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/punjab-surplus-rotting-grain-a-ghastly-contrast-18128.php
Also Read
India’s mountains of shame
Covered by plastic sheets in a football-field-sized area, the black mountain is a formidable presence amid the rolling fields of wheat ripening under a warm March sun. Under its tarpaulin sheets, Fatehgarh Sahib’s mountain, 40 km west of state capital Chandigarh, stores wheat harvested three years ago. The wheat bags have holes and rats run riot. This is part of India’s federal reserve of grain, to be stocked in a warehouse to feed the poor. Out in the open, it quietly turns to garbage in a granary state that has more hungry people than 33 developing countries.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-s-mountains-of-shame/Article1-525218.aspx
India outsources food-waste woes
By Raja Murthy
MUMBAI - The Indian government is throwing open its food storage business to the private sector and foreign investors, as well as seeking Chinese expertise, at it tries to reduce the annual US$12.2 billion worth of agricultural produce allowed to rot due to inadequate government-owned facilities.
Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar last week threatened criminal action against the wastrels. He targeted officials of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the government's food stocker and distributor, for leaving grain out in the rain during the monsoon in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.
The situation has not changed much since 2008, when Subodh Kant Sahai, minister for food processing, made the startling disclosure of $12 billion in losses of agricultural produce owing to the absence or shortage of post-harvesting infrastructure, such as cold storage chains, transportation and storage facilities.
Read More at;
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LG21Df01.html
Also Read
Don’t let food rot, improve granaries
Statistics about the extent of crops destroyed vary, but some months ago, according to one estimate obtained through the Right to Information Act, improper storage and negligence had led to 14,000 tonnes of rice, wheat and paddy becoming totally unfit for the distribution system.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comment/don%E2%80%99t-let-food-rot-improve-granaries-964
Also Read
Punjab: Food grain rots, farmers helpless
The rotting grains at Sirhind underlines the irony of Mohinder Singh's existence, a wheat farmer who lives close by and has had to borrow money to put food on the table. "The government has left the stock here for so long, it's rotting. It should give the grains to poor people like us. We worked hard to grow this grain.” says Mohinder Singh.
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/punjab-surplus-rotting-grain-a-ghastly-contrast-18128.php
Also Read
India’s mountains of shame
Covered by plastic sheets in a football-field-sized area, the black mountain is a formidable presence amid the rolling fields of wheat ripening under a warm March sun. Under its tarpaulin sheets, Fatehgarh Sahib’s mountain, 40 km west of state capital Chandigarh, stores wheat harvested three years ago. The wheat bags have holes and rats run riot. This is part of India’s federal reserve of grain, to be stocked in a warehouse to feed the poor. Out in the open, it quietly turns to garbage in a granary state that has more hungry people than 33 developing countries.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-s-mountains-of-shame/Article1-525218.aspx
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