Punjab diverting wheat stocks to pvt mills, should cease and desist says Union minister Piyush Goyal

By PTI

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday alleged that the Punjab government is diverting wheat stocks, supplied by the Centre for distribution to poor families, to private mills.

Goyal was referring to Punjab’s ‘Ghar Ghar Muft Ration’ (doorstep delivery of ration) scheme launched recently by chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal. Under this scheme, beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act will get wheat or ‘atta’ (wheat flour) in bags at their doorsteps.

“’We are giving wheat to the local Punjab government and they, instead of distributing it through the local fair price shops are diverting it to private mills, converting it into atta (flour) and it is reported that there are instances of mixing high-quality government wheat with poor quality,” he said.

“And then in the garb of giving a service to the consumers by giving them atta, they are actually very often not providing the grain to the people of Punjab,” he added.

Goyal said the Punjab government is required to send the wheat grain for distribution through the public distribution system, so that the poor can buy the grains for cheap.

The fair price shops need to take the biometrics of the buyer and match it with the Aadhar details while giving the grain, he added. “I have been continuously writing to the Punjab government, and I am hoping that the Punjab government will cease and desist from this practice,” he said.

This article has been republished from The Hindustan Times.