FCI Reforms: 5 Point Reform Agenda for FCI

 

FCI Reforms: Relevance

• GS 2: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

 

FCI Reforms: Context

• Recently, on the occasion of the 58^th Foundation Day of Food Corporation of India (FCI), Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution gave 5 Sutras to better FCI’s progress.

 

5 points reform agenda for FCI

• Change the public perception of FCI from being inefficient & corrupt to dynamic, inclusive & honest.
• Focus on integrating end-to-end tech solutions right from procurement to delivery to achieve operational efficiency & leakage free,  distribution   –  reduce   PDS   response   time, beneficiary tracking etc.
• Establish a grievance redressal mechanism to react rapidly to farmer/Farmer Producer Organisation in distress. Reaching out to farmers through “Jan Jagrukta” programmes at grass-root level to spread awareness.
• Plan for modern infrastructure & logistics. Upgrade warehouses to international standards. Improve storage capacity for the growing need- Power backup, CCTV, robust network facility.
• Global best practices to make India a ‘Food hub’.

 

 

About FCI

• The Food Corporation of India was setup under the Food Corporation’s Act 1964.
• Food policy objectives:
  • Effective price support operations for safeguarding the interests of the farmers.
  • Distribution of food grains throughout the country for public distribution system.
  • Maintaining satisfactory level of operational and buffer stocks of food grains to ensure National Food Security.
• FCI’s Objectives:
  • To provide farmers remunerative prices
  • To make food grains available at reasonable prices, particularly to vulnerable section of the society
  • To maintain buffer stocks as measure of Food Security
  • To intervene in market for price stabilization
• Since its inception, FCI has played a significant role in India’s success in transforming the crisis management-oriented food security into a stable security system.
• FCI is the main central agency for execution of food policies of the government.
• FCI has come a long way in realizing the dream of India being a self-sufficient nation.

 

 

FCI report card

• FCI procures nearly 1,300 LMT of wheat & paddy annually against nearly 13 LMT procured during 1965.
• Similarly, distribution across the country has increased from about 18LMT in 1965 to nearly 600 LMT.
• Even the storage capacity from 6 LMT in 1965 has increased to over 800 LMT.

 

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