Pranab raps food ministry over storage

Barely a few months before the government starts its annual wheat procurement, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rapped food ministry over the slow progress in creating additional storage facilities.

While taking stock of storage situation at the Empowered Group of Ministers on food, the finance minister was unhappy over the tardy progress made in creating additional capacity of silos despite assurances made regarding the same almost a year-back, those who are familiar with the development said.

"The finance minister was unhappy over the slow progress in creating additional storage space for food grains, and asked to come up with concrete proposals so that food grains are not wasted because of lack of storage," said a key official.