New Delhi: Delhi Agriculture Minister Gopal Rai on Friday accused the Food Corporation of India of not setting up even a single counter in Narela Mandi for procurement of wheat from farmers, with the FCI flatout denying this and asserting that purchase centres were opened in Narela, Najafgarh and Mayapuri — in the presence of Delhi's joint director of
Agriculture.
Rai inspected the Narela Mandi on Friday and said, "If FCI had indeed set up a counter, then they ought to show it, and if counters were absent, there is no need to lie. When food grains are being procured inside the mandis across the country, why does FCI have a problem only with Delhi?" Rai said that to resolve the matter at hand, he will hold a meeting with senior officials of FCI in Delhi Secretariat on
Saturday.
The Food Corporation of India on the other hand, issued a statement stating, "FCI has opened up the purchase centers at Najafgarh Mandi, Food Storage Depot Narela and Food Storage Depot Mayapuri in discussion and consultation with Joint Direction (Agriculture) on March 24, which are fully functional from April 1 onwwards. FSD Narela is adjacent to APMC Narela Mandi, hardly few meters away from the main gate of Mandi and offers a more appropriate place for procurement for farmers as well as FCI and it is assured that farmers will not face any problem on this account."
But Rai continued, "From the past few days, we've been getting several complaints from farmers that in Narela Mandi, FCI has not been procuring food grains on MSP. When we asked FCI for details regarding this, FCI wrote to us that they have been purchasing food grains since 1st April. Yesterday, when we asked for a report from the Mandi, we discovered that FCI did not even set up a counter over here."