sir,
Some time back onions were selling for ₹ 100 a kg.
Around that time green vegetables , Spinach ( Methi & Palak) were selling around ₹ 50 per kg .
As per regular routine , we had our Sunday vegetables market on 01 Dec 13 .
At the start of the market around 1530 to 1600 h Spinach started at around ₹10 a bundle. By 1700 h it was selling at ₹ 5 a bundle . by winding up time it had come down to two bundles for ₹ 5.
During my morning walk following scene greeted me .
THE MORNING AFTER SUNDAY MARKET / रविवार हाट
Lugging back the unsold vegetables was not considered worth the trouble by the shopkeepers and Vegetables were just dumped at the market site. WHAT A WASTE .
As per the report submitted by Emerson Climate Technologies , Fruits , Vegetables and Grains worth ₹ 440,00 crores per year are wasted due to improper storage . Of this amount, contribution of Fruits and Vegetables is 133,00 crores. all this wastage due to non availability of cold storage facilities .
"Currently, India has 6,300 cold storage facilities unevenly spread across the country, with an installed capacity of 30.11 million metric tonnes. Studies have shown this is half the amount of cold storage facilities that India actually needs. Cold storage capacity for all food products in the country should be more than 61 million metric tonnes. In order to reach that target, the report says an investment of more than ₹ 550 00 is needed by 2015-2016 just to keep up with growing fruit and vegetable production levels"(quote from Emersion Report.).
Food security scheme announced by Government covering 67% ( two thirds ) of our population is going to cost ₹125,000 crores . Every one KNOWS out of this ₹ 125,000 crores actual benefit reaching the starving population for which the scheme is launched may be , optimistically , three forth. . Minimum of One forth of this amount , ₹ 31250 crores will find its way in pockets of corrupt politicians and Babus.
IF THE GOVERNMENT REDUCES THE SCOPE OF THIS FOOD SECURITY SCHEME JUST BY ONE FORTH , IT WILL MEAN SAVING OF ₹ 31250 CRORES . WITH THESE SAVINGS , WITHIN TWO YEARS, OUR COUNTRY WILL HAVE MORE THAN SUFFICIENT COLD STORAGE CAPACITY NOT ONLY FOR FRUITS & VEGETABLES BUT EVEN FOR GRAINS.THIS WILL PREVENT WASTAGE OF FOOD PRODUCTS WORTH ₹ 440,00 CRORES PER YEAR.
We may even be able to do away with food security scheme.
Why is it that such simple mathematics is not understood by our Politicians and Babus . To top it all our PM is supposed to be world renowned economist .
OR is it the TRUTH THAT POLITICIANS REALLY DO NOT WANT TO ERADICATE POVERTY . IF POVERTY IS ERADICATED THEY ARE DEPRIVED OF VOTE BANK POLITICS .
If that was not so we would not witness scenes like
THE MORNING AFTER SUNDAY MARKET / रविवार हाट
Yours sincerely,
PM Velankar
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