Chandigarh: With complaints of “poor” quality of rice received from Punjab by other rice-consuming states, the Food Corporation of India has decided to form eight teams to randomly inspect the racks of rice being sent from the state.
Last month, three states reported quality issues in rice sent from different parts of Punjab to Nagaland, Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh. The rice, when tested for quality specifications in these states, was allegedly found to either have more than the prescribed broken grains; high moisture content; less than the prescribed fortified rice kernel; or to have the first level of pest infestation.
The rice sent to Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka was found to be “unfit for human consumption” when tested before being used for public distribution.
The Punjab regional office of FCI has said that the quality of rice can be affected during transportation and handling or while it is stored in other states. They have also said that the quality of rice before it is dispatched, meets all the standards.
Now, according to the orders issued by the food agency, eight teams, including three officers each, have been formed. The teams will check the quality of rice being dispatched from the Punjab region of FCI.
The teams have been asked to take samples of rice being dispatched from Budhlada, Kotkapura, Ferozepur, Kapurthala, Mullanpur (Ludhiana), Moga, Nabha and Sangrur and check the quality. The teams will also certify the rice before it is dispatched.
Interestingly, the rice stored in Punjab – about 113 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) – was always checked for quality by local teams of each division of FCI before it was dispatched. The new teams, mostly drawing officers from the FCI’s Quality Control Department, will double-check the food grains stored here. Transportation of food grains from the state to other states will be done only after getting approval from the Quality Control Department.
It is worth mentioning that after the quality of rice sent from Sangrur, Sunam, Jalandhar, and Nabha was found to be deficient, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution asked the FCI to check the quality of all the food grains stored there.