NEW DELHI: In a letter to food and public distribution minister Ram Vilas Paswan , CPM polite bureau member Brinda Karat has said it is “shocking and unethical” that the government is trying to offload excess FCI stocks on NGOs at higher rates than wholesale prices of wheat and rice In light of the unprecedented crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and the distress being faced by the vulnerable sections, in particular migrant workers, the government had permitted NGOs to pick up food stocks from FCI godowns for relief work. However, prices fixed for NGOs to acquire food grains , Karat has said, are higher than the wholesale prices of wheat and rice in many states.As per the prices fixed by the ministry for procurement for relief work by NGOs, wheat is to be sold at Rs 21.50 per kilo and rice at Rs 22.50 per kilo. “These prices are extremely high. Even the wholesale price data available on the website of the ministry shows that the open market prices of wheat are lower in many markets than what is being offered by the Government to NGOs for relief,” Karat has said in her letter to Paswan.She also said the government should facilitate free distribution of food stocks without any pre-conditions. “The burden of the lockdown is falling disproportionately on the shoulders of India’s labouring classes,” Karat said, adding that as on April 7, the government had 54.2 million tonnes of food grains in its storage and that it should be used to feed those on the brink of starvation.