Ferozepur March 31:
Bags of wheat worth more than Rs 5 crore were today found missing from godowns of Markfed during the verification of the same by special teams. These godowns are being managed by a private company.
Official sources said the Markfed authorities had instructed various teams, led by senior functionaries, to carry out the verification of its godowns located in the Guru Harsahai, Fazilka and Makhu areas, where over 30 lakh bags of wheat were stored. Though the process of the verification is expected to be completed by tomorrow evening, preliminary reports have revealed that so far, about 1 lakh bags of wheat are missing. The total number of missing bags would be worked out by tomorrow.
Sources said the authorities had been pressurising the owner of the private company to make up for the loss. And if the owner concerned failed to do this, action would be taken against him. A senior official of Markfed said the verification of these godowns was also carried out nearly five months ago and wheat was missing at that time too. However, the private party concerned had made payment in cash to make up for the loss caused to Markfed on account of missing wheat.
He said the private company, which was handling the storage of wheat, was also bound to deliver the same to the Food Corporation of India. He said any field official found responsible for causing loss to Markfed would be taken to task. Initial reports had also revealed that the private company owner had employed “innovative methods” to make the bags disappear from the godowns.
The bags of wheat that are missing belonged to crop years of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Whether the authorities would lodge a complaint against the private company concerned or not could not be known so far.
Bags of wheat worth more than Rs 5 crore were today found missing from godowns of Markfed during the verification of the same by special teams. These godowns are being managed by a private company.
Official sources said the Markfed authorities had instructed various teams, led by senior functionaries, to carry out the verification of its godowns located in the Guru Harsahai, Fazilka and Makhu areas, where over 30 lakh bags of wheat were stored. Though the process of the verification is expected to be completed by tomorrow evening, preliminary reports have revealed that so far, about 1 lakh bags of wheat are missing. The total number of missing bags would be worked out by tomorrow.
Sources said the authorities had been pressurising the owner of the private company to make up for the loss. And if the owner concerned failed to do this, action would be taken against him. A senior official of Markfed said the verification of these godowns was also carried out nearly five months ago and wheat was missing at that time too. However, the private party concerned had made payment in cash to make up for the loss caused to Markfed on account of missing wheat.
He said the private company, which was handling the storage of wheat, was also bound to deliver the same to the Food Corporation of India. He said any field official found responsible for causing loss to Markfed would be taken to task. Initial reports had also revealed that the private company owner had employed “innovative methods” to make the bags disappear from the godowns.
The bags of wheat that are missing belonged to crop years of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Whether the authorities would lodge a complaint against the private company concerned or not could not be known so far.
tfs
