No impact of farmers' protest on foodgrains procurement: Goyal

New Delhi: Unfazed by the ongoing farmers' protest, the government on Tuesday told the Parliament that there has been no impact of farmers' protest on procurement of foodgrains in the country as there has been no deficit in the procurement of cereals against the stocking norms.

In response to a question asked by GS Basavaraj, a BJP parliamentarian representing Tumkur constituency in Karnataka, Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal told the Lok Sabha that the procurement trend of foodgrains is normal and smooth.

"There has been no deficit in the procurement of foodgrain against stocking norms, in fact, it is surplus. Despite all the difficulties associated with Covid-19 pandemic, the government went ahead in antedating KMS 2020-21 season which witnessed a massive surge in the procurement of paddy that has reached to 677.59 lakh MT as on March 11, 2021 against the stocking norms of 214.10 LMT, indicating a surplus of 315.49 LMT," Goyal said.

The Union Minister further said, "As per the stocking norms for the central pool, operational stock and strategic reserve are maintained to meet the operational requirement of foodgrains and exigencies at any point of time. Foodgrains are drawn from strategic reserve in case of crisis such as an abnormal shortfall in production of foodgrains in the country or natural calamity."

In response to the initiatives taken by the government to address the farmers issue, the minister said, "The government has engaged itself actively, constantly and consistently with the agitating farmer's unions and 11 rounds of negotiations were held between the government and agitating farmers' unions to resolve the issue."