Goyal urges FCI to embrace technology, cut operational costs

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday asked state-owned FCI to adopt modern technologies in its overall functioning, reduce the cost of operations and prevent any wrong-doings besides winning the trust of farmers and poor beneficiaries under the public distribution system. The Food and Consumer Affairs Minister also asked FCI and its employees not to tolerate corruption in its operations.
He was speaking at the 60th Foundation Day of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the government’s nodal agency for procurement and distribution of food grains. The FCI was established on January 14, 1965.Addressing the event, Goyal complemented the FCI for ensuring that farmers get reasonable prices for their produce and providing food grains to 81 crore people.
He asked the FCI and its employees to focus on three priorities. First, he said, “We should win the trust of our farmers as well as our beneficiaries, which are poor and lower-middle-income people. This should be our first priority to win the trust of the people and we should reach them with sensitivity and sincerity”.
He stressed carrying out the procurement, storage and distribution of foodgrains in a transparent manner with full honesty. Secondly, Goyal said, “We should adopt technology and digitisation to improve operational efficiency”. Thirdly, the minister said, “The amount we are spending, how we can control expenditure and reduce it”.
Goyal said the cost could be reduced through route optimisation, mechanised loading and unloading and the adoption of a modern storage system to cut overall operational costs. He suggested hosting of hackathon to generate ideas in these areas.
Goyal asserted that FCI operations would be further strengthened and it would live up to its legacy if the corporation followed these priorities.The minister highlighted that the FCI is already making efforts to modernise and digitise its entire operations, but needs more to be done.
Goyal urged the FCI employees to make the corporation a world-class organisation.
”We should stop any wrongdoing in the operations by using technologies and also taking stringent actions,” he said, adding this should be our common efforts and common responsibilities.