The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to safely storing the food grains meant for distribution in various public schemes. FCI is going to take a big leap by upgrading its storage facilities from conventional to Silos very soon. These silos will not just save space, time and cost but will also work as Mandis where farmers will be directly selling their produce.
Upgradation from Conventional Storage to Silos
Speaking to News18 on storage, GM (Region) Rajat Sharma said, “As far as storage is concerned, we are trying to increase our storage. We already have a capacity of storing 55 lakh MT which is in the form of a conventional storage facility. The storage at FSD Manduadih (Varanasi) is a scientific storage facility, but we need to do a proper treatment before storing food grains here. Out of the total 55 lakh MT storage capacity, around 15 lakh MT is our storage capacity while around 40 lakh MT is hired storage facility. We are also going to increase around 8 lakh MT storage capacity in Uttar Pradesh soon.”
“Meanwhile, we are also coming up with modern storage facilities in Uttar Pradesh like Silos, where food grains are stored in bulk instead of storing them in sacks. Silos are basically huge tunnels where food grains are stored and are monitored in a scientific way including temperature, moisture and infestation. Silos not just reduce the losses but also make sure that spillage is minimum which in turn increases the duration of storage. In UP, Silos of capacity with 5.5 lakh MT are being built, out of which three Silos will be ready by March 2022. In the next two to three years, we have schemes to build Silos with a capacity of 18.5 lakh MT in 44 locations across Uttar Pradesh. These silos will also help farmers as they will not have to run anywhere for selling their produce, The farmers will be able to dump their produce directly where after analysis their purchase will be done on the spot saving a lot of time for farmers,” Rajat Sharma.
Installation of CCTV and live monitoring of storage facilities
The storage facilities used by FCI are now under surveillance of CCTVs which can be accessed by anyone online. This step has been taken to bring transparency among the public and also to curb any kind of theft from the godown. The live feed by CCTVs installed at FCI godowns and storage facilities can be accessed by anyone by visiting the official website of the FCI. One has to log in to the official website of the FCI by logging on to www.fci.gov.in and then click on the ‘see your depot’ section at the bottom of the home page, which will then redirect to the live feeds of the FCI storage facilities.
A look at Food Grain Distribution
Under the National Food Security Scheme, 72.05% of the total population of the state including rural 76.10% and urban 57.56% has been covered. Currently, distribution of food grains to eligible households and Antyodaya cardholders is done at five kilograms per person per month and 35 kilograms per person per month respectively. At present, 3.59 crore cards are in circulation in the state and the total number of beneficiaries is 14.67 crore.
A total of 8.13 lakh MT of food grains including 4.84 lakh MT wheat and 3.29 lakh MT rice have been released to the state in the financial year 2021-22 by the Government of India under the National Food Security Scheme. In the current financial year till November 21, a total of 61.53 lakh MT food grains have been lifted by the State Government from the godowns of the Food Corporation of India.
Apart from the National Food Security Scheme, the FCI also provides food grains to the state in other welfare schemes run by the Government of India. Other welfare schemes mainly include the Mid-Day Meal Scheme and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), in which the allocation of food grains is done by the Government of India quarterly. Under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, a total of 1.97 lakh metric tonnes (rice -1.32 and wheat -0.35 lakh metric tonnes) has been allocated while for the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) by the Government of India, a total of 0.72 lakh metric tonne food grains (Wheat – 0.37 and Rice – 0.35 lakh MT) have been allocated.
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