Union Minister Piyush Goyal Urges FCI to Transform into a Trusted Partner for Farmers and Citizens Through Transparency and Technology
The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles, and Commerce and Industry, Sh. Piyush Goyal, emphasized the need for the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to establish itself as a reliable partner for both farmers and the people of the country. Sh. Goyal highlighted the critical role played by FCI in implementing key initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), ensuring the distribution of rations across the nation. However, he stressed that FCI’s responsibility extends beyond the delivery of rations to instilling confidence in farmers and beneficiaries through transparency, efficiency, and accountability.
Sh. Goyal underscored the government’s commitment to eradicating corruption in India and urged the youth and FCI staff to contribute to this vision by promoting transparency and acting as whistleblowers. Addressing the second area of focus, Sh. Goyal emphasized the importance of digitization and technology adoption by FCI to enhance quality in various aspects such as inspection, procurement, transportation, distribution, and storage. He suggested measures like route optimization, mechanized loading/unloading, innovative storage solutions, and cost reduction for efficient operations.
Highlighting the effectiveness of FCI’s Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) Operations in regulating prices of essential commodities like wheat and rice, Sh. Goyal mentioned successful interventions related to Bharat Atta, Bharat Dal, onion, and tomato, contributing to price stabilization.
Sh. Goyal commended FCI for providing fair value for farmers’ produce, preventing distress sales. He urged FCI to continue strengthening dialogue with farmers and acknowledged the corporation’s modernization efforts, including digitization, streamlined procurement processes, state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment, improved food grain procurement, construction of steel silos for better storage, and installation of CCTV cameras for enhanced monitoring, thereby upgrading infrastructure.