Amid the ongoing political bickering between the central and Punjab governments over the paddy procurement crisis, which has affected the farmers, the Mann government has received a big blow following the rejection of rice sent from the state for public distribution. Recent reports that rice samples collected from the stocks supplied to a few states, including Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Karnataka, were found to be either “unfit for human consumption” or “beyond rejection limit (BRL)”, have triggered a heated debate not only about the quality but also the storage, while political parties chose to engage in the blame game as usual. As many as 18 wagons of rice sent from Punjab that were unloaded in Dimapur last week were found to be infested by insects (first level) and thus beyond the rejection limit, while the fortified rice was below standard, according to a report by The Indian Express. This came weeks after rice produced in Punjab was rejected in Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka for the same reason – poor quality. Following this development, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has asked the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to investigate by checking the quality of grains from the source or storage facilities in Punjab and remove the stocks ‘unfit for human consumption’. The FCI has also asked its staff to double-check for quality and dispatch for distribution only after being cleared by its regional office quality team.
While the move to check the quality at source will stop substandard rice from entering the food chain under PDS, a thorough investigation into the matter is required, considering the detrimental effect it can have on the health of the consumers. It is necessary to get to the crux of the matter and probe all possible causes of low rice quality. Is PR-126, a short-duration paddy variety that was introduced in 2016, the culprit? Did pest infestation occur during the transportation or storage? With farmers and millers claiming that rice is dispatched only after meeting quality standards, investigating the real cause is essential to avoid similar problems in the future. Even as a team from IIT Kharagpur has been tasked with looking into low post-milling yield claims on PR-126 and hybrid paddy varieties, a field study may be required for better knowledge. Farmers should not be victimised because of mismanagement by the central and state governments. Any move that discourages farmers from cultivating paddy will be detrimental to the country. Instead, the state and central governments should work in tandem to ensure timely procurement of farmers’ produce and safe storage.
