The government says, it has prepared a comprehensive plan for construction of godowns with 149 lakh tonnes of storage space for food grains. These will be built by Food Corporation of India (FCI) through private entrepreneurs and central and state warehousing corporations. Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said, government has prepared a master plan to construct modern FCI godowns on public-private partnership basis to prevent wastage of the food grains. He said the time schedule prescribed for completion of godowns is one year from finalisation of agreement with the entrepreneur. Mr Pawar said the government is also taking other steps to enhance the storage capacity of food grains with a special emphasis to North Eastern region.Earlier, the Supreme Court advised the Centre to distribute food grains among the poor free of cost instead of allowing it to rot due to lack of storage facilities. A bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari also asked the Centre to ensure food security at least for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. The apex court was reacting to media reports that lakhs of tonnes of food grains were getting spoilt under the open sky when the prices of essential commodities were going through the roof.