Moga Pungrain suffered Rs 1.67-cr loss due to ‘poor management’

Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service
Moga, March 6

The Moga district unit of the Punjab State Grains Procurement Corporation Limited (Pungrain) suffered an interest burden of Rs 1.67 crore because it did not undertake timely verification of excess deductions made by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) towards the cost of gunny bags and interest incurred between 2014 and 2017.

The Pungrain is engaged in foodgrain procurement operations for central pool on behalf of the FCI, Government of India.

The procured grains (wheat and paddy) are collected and stored in gunny bags for delivery to the central agency. For execution of its operations, the Pungrain obtains and extends gunny bags on loan to the central agency.

A recent audit of Moga district unit of the Pungrain revealed that it took 56,18,739 gunny bags on loan between 2014 and 2017 from the Food Corporation of India but these were not returned to the central agency.

The Food Corporation of India, therefore, deducted Rs 66.76 crore from September to December 2017 from the financial claims of the Pungrain, which included Rs 28.51 crore towards the cost of gunny bags, Rs 1.72 crore for value added tax (VAT) and Rs 36.53 crore for interest on cost of the gunny bags.

However, the interest cost of Rs 36.53 crore once again included in the cost of gunny bags which is Rs 28.51 crore. On being pointed out on July 4, 2018, by the audit department, the district office of Pungrain raised the claim with the Food Corporation of India and got the wrong inclusion of the cost of gunny bags of Rs 28.51 crore rectified, after which the FCI refunded the amount to the Pungrain.

But the blockage of funds due to excess deductions made by the FCI cost the Pungrain an avoidable interest burden of Rs 1.42 crore. Overall, the mismanagement of delayed verifications of deductions on account of cost of gunny bags and interest imposed resulted into financial losses of Rs 1.67 crore.