Over 6,400 tonnes of pulses rotting in Maha storehouses: Danve

Jalna,  Over 6,400 tonnes of pulses given by the Centre to Maharashtra during the COVID-19 pandemic is rotting in warehouses as the state government has failed to distribute them to the poor, Union minister and Jalna MP Raosaheb Danve said on Saturday.

In a statement, the Union minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution accused the Uddhav Thackeray-led government of negligence.

Danve said, because of the pandemic, the Union government had initiated free distribution of 5-kg foodgrains per person and one-kg of pulses per household under the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for April and November 2020, and the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Scheme (ANBS) for migrants.

“We had released 1,13,041 metric tonnes of pulses to Maharashtra government for distribution to beneficiaries, but due to negligence of the MVA government, 6,441 metric tonnes of pulses are lying rotting in the warehouses for want of distribution,” he stated.

He said the Centre had brought the matter to the notice of the state government on April 6 this year but no action was taken in this regard.

“We came to know that 6,441 metric tonnes of pulses are rotting in storehouses. The Maharashtra government is responsible for this negligence and the loss caused to the poor and needy,” the BJP leader said. PTI