The move comes at a time when the millions of migrant workers are stranded out of their homes and grappling with hunger.
The Centre on Monday said that it will convert the surplus rice into ethanol to make alcohol-based hand-sanitizers. The move comes at a time when the country is grappling with a huge crisis of migrant workers, who are stranded outside their home states, and facing a hunger crisis.
Several reports -- and social media posts -- have emerged over the past few weeks that highlight the plight of migrant workers who have been pushed to the brink of starvation amid the lockdown. As such, the latest move by the Centre is likely to evoke a sharp criticism.
"According to National Policy on Biofuels, 2018 under Para 5.3 inter-alia envisages that during an agriculture crop year when there is projected oversupply of food grains as anticipated by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the policy will allow conversion of these surplus quantities of food grains to ethanol, based on the approval of National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC)," the order by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas read.
It said it was decided in a meeting of NBCC held on Monday under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, wherein it was approved that the surplus rice available with Food Corporation of India (FCI) may be converted to ethanol for utilization in making alcohol-based hand-sanitizers and in blending for Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme.