On Tuesday, humanitarian assistance of 50,000 tonnes of wheat for Afghanistan has left by road. The consignment from the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab will go through Pakistan to Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The consignment was flagged off by Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla.
Sources confirmed to Financial Express Online that “The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has decided to send humanitarian food assistance to neighbouring Afghanistan where people are facing acute food shortage. Around 50,000MT of wheat (Net Wheat excluding packing weight) has been packed and sent off.”
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has delivered 50,000 of Wheat of RMS (Rabi Market Season) 2020-21 in 50 kg jute bags and the sacks are double bagged to help protect from moisture and any infection on the way. The shelf life of the wheat, according to sources, is at least a year from the time of dispatch and all the relevant information is mentioned on the jute bags and sacks.
Before handing over the sacks for transportation, the fumigation of the consignment was done as that would help in the passage. Also, all guidelines have been shared for the proper handling of the consignment to the Afghan authorities and transport agency.
The Packaging
Since it is going through the road, the packaging has been done in double gunny which has an inner made of jute and the outer alone is being done HDPE/PP. And the net weight of each bag is around 50 kgs.
Each bag has a stamp in three different languages- English, Pashto and Dari and the text says: “Gift from the people of India to the people of Afghanistan”
The necessary phyto-sanitary and fit to consumption certificate before handing over has been provided by FCI. The wheat quality has also been tested by WFP approved labs.
More about the first consignment
The convoy which left today was of 50 Afghan trucks and carried around 2500 MT of wheat.
This consignment according to sources will be handed over to the officials of WFP at Jalalabad who will then distribute it.