Punsup offers grams for pulses, left with unsold stock

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 24

Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation (Punsup) is struggling to exhaust the entire stock of subsidised pulses (grams), meant to be distributed among blue cardholders from January to March.

Punsup, the food grain procurement agency that is anchoring the scheme of distributing subsidised pulses on behalf of the state government, had procured around 16,000 metric tonnes (MT) of grams (kala chana) instead of pulses early this year as the quota for three months from January to March.

However, even four months after the stock was purchased in April, around 20,000 quintals of grams is still lying in the agency’s godowns, revealed sources.

When contacted, Punsup chairman Ajay Pal Singh Mirankot expressed inability to talk citing that he was busy in the meeting. A senior Punsup official, requesting anonymity, maintained that the stock was still in surplus as the corporation had purchased extra stock this time.

However, fair price depot holders, through whom Punsup distributes pulses to over one crore blue cardholders in the state, said beneficiaries were not ready to buy grams.

“Poor villagers are reluctant to purchase grams due to their dietary preferences. They prefer pulses, which are easy to cook. I could sell only 60 per cent of the gram stock from my depot. I had to struggle a lot to sell the remaining stock. The situation is same in nearly all depots of the state”, said Gurjinder Singh Sidhu, president, Punjab Depot Holders Union.

Another depot holder claimed, “Poor families prefer to purchase grams only when prices of green vegetables skyrocket.”

In 2013, the state had promised to give wheat at Re 1 per kg (maximum 5 kg per month) and pulses at Rs 20 per kg (one kg per month) to each member of BPL families. In October 2014, the prices were raised to Rs 2 and Rs 30 per kg, respectively.