5 Lakh MT Wheat Sold as 'Bharat Atta': Govt

New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) Over five lakh metric tonnes of wheat was lifted by Kendriya Bhandar from Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the entire quantity was sold as "Bharat Atta", the government said on Wednesday.

The government was asked whether it was aware that under Open Market Sale Scheme for Domestic purpose (OMSS-D), about five lakh metric tonnes of wheat was allocated to Kendriya Bhandar for sale as Bharat Atta to the common consumers at subsidised rates and whether it sold only nine lakh bags through its retail shops during the period from 2023 to January 2025 against the target fixed for selling about 4 crore bags of 10 kg Bharat Atta manufactured from the allotted wheat.

Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said that Bharat Atta was launched on November 6, 2023 with a view to provide atta (wheat flour) to general consumers at subsidised rates.

It was to be done under Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) policy through semi-government and cooperative organisations like Kendriya Bhandar/NAFED/NCCF and tie-ups of these organisations with other retail outlets (like SAFAL in Delhi, other retail chains/cooperatives in other States) to make Bharat Atta available at large number of outlets throughout the country, he said.

A quantity of 5,09,000 MT of wheat was allocated to Kendriya Bhandar for sale as Bharat Atta during Phase-I, the minister said.

"5,07,399 MT of wheat was lifted for Bharat Atta by Kendriya Bhandar from FCI during Phase-1 and entire quantity of lifted wheat was sold as Bharat Atta," he added.

To another query on whether the government proposes to conduct a performance audit and investigation by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), respectively, the minister said "no such proposal is under consideration".