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Orissa in a quandary over bumper rice crop

M I Khan in Bhubaneswar

Orissa now faces a problem of plenty. Unlike in the recent past when Orissa was facing a drought-like situation, this time around it is burdened with too much rice.

State Food Supplies Minister Bedprakash Agarwal, in a letter to Union Minister of Consumers Affairs Shanta Kumar, has requested that instead of Punjab supplying rice to Bihar and West Bengal, it would be appropriate to let Orissa do the same.

A bumper rabi harvest in western Orissa has forced the state government to request the Centre to direct the Food Corporation of India, or FCI, not to transport any foodgrains from other state as the state does not have enough storage space.

Agarwal has asked the Centre to make arrangements to move 100,000 tonne of rice from Orissa to West Bengal and Bihar to create storage space.

According to sources, FCI and other government agencies have procured over 600,000 tonne of rice. Yet, this is not enough. Lifting of less foodgrains by the state government from the FCI godowns has further complicated matters.

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