Within days of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiling austerity measures, including curb on foreign visits, ministry of food and consumer affairs is in a fix over a proposal for tour of the US by officials to study storages there of foodgrains. The proposal has further put the ministry in a bind, as recommendations of a similar exercise when a minister led delegation to China in 2010 are not yet implemented.
“The proposal has come for the officials and members of the Warehousing Development and Regulation Authority to visit the US to study the storages there for foodgrains. It’s also surprising for the reason that Prime Minister has just recently announced austerity measures to curb foreign visits of officials,” sources said.
While the food secretary, sources said, has opted out to visit the US, the proposal is awaiting the approval of the Union minister of state for food and consumer affairs after which it needs to be approved by the ministry of finance and finally to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Though the purpose of the visit is to study the management and technology used in the US for storages of foodgrains, the China visit in 2010, sources said, too was focused on the same issue. The food secretary is learnt to have opted out of the proposed US visit, as he would be busy in a meeting of food ministers of northeaster states in Guwahati in the second week of October.
The delegation to China in 2010 led by Prof. Thomas had recommended introducing a special purpose vehicle, which could have worked outside the existing administrative framework to ensure effective storage capacity in the country.