What is the full form of FCI

FCI: Food Corporation of India

FCI stands for Food Corporation of India. It is a government body in India that deals with the purchase, sale, and distribution of food grains across the country. Its vision is to ensure food security for the citizens of the country. It operates through 5 zonal offices and a head office located in Delhi. As of May 2017, Sh. Yogendra Tripathi is the Chairman and Managing Director of FCI.

Mission

• Procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP) to ensure adequate food grains production by the farmers.
• Ensure food grains and sugar availability through appropriate policies and buffer stocks.
• Making food grains accessible at reasonable prices through Public Distribution Shop (PDS), especially for the economically weaker sections of society.

It was set up on 14 January 1965 under the Food Corporation Act of 1964 to fulfill the following objectives of the Food Policy.

• Price support operations to safeguard the interests of farmers.
• Uniform distribution of food grains throughout the country through the effective public distribution system
• Maintain the required level of stocks of food grains to ensure National Food Security

FCI is believed to be the largest supply chain management in Asia. The key products of this organization are Wheat and Rice. Every year, it purchases around 15-20 percent of India's total wheat production and around 12-15 percent of India's total rice production. After the purchase, it supplies the food grains to the stock depots of different states so that ration card holders can buy wheat and rice at a minimal price.

If FCI suffers any loss, the Union government is supposed to reimburse the losses. Since its inception, FCI successfully handled various situations of scarcity and abundance of food grains. It has played a vital role in transforming India from a food-deficit country to a self-sufficient country in food.

Background of FCI

Following the mid-1960s food crisis, the FCI was founded in 1965. The government recognized the need for a specialized body to handle the acquisition, storage, and distribution of food grains since the nation was experiencing severe food shortages. When the FCI was first established, it was a division of the Agricultural Prices Commission. However, in 1967, it was given its own authority and was placed under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

The major responsibility of the FCI was to get food grains from surplus areas and distribute them to deficit areas. The organization encountered a number of difficulties in its early years, including a lack of infrastructure, limited storage facilities, and inefficiencies in the system for purchasing and distributing goods. But over time, the FCI overcame these obstacles to play a crucial role in India's system of food security.

Features of FCI

The purchase, storage, and distribution of food grains are the major categories for the FCI's many duties. Let's go over these tasks in more depth.

Purchasing grains for food

The FCI is in charge of buying grains from farmers all around the nation. The company purchases cereals for human use, including rice and wheat, at minimum support prices (MSPs) set by the government. The MSP is the lowest price that the government will promise to pay farmers for their food grains.

The FCI purchases food grains from a variety of sources, including public institutions, independent merchants, and farmer cooperatives. Through its own network of procurement centers, the organization also makes direct purchases from farmers.

Keeping Food Grains Safe

After obtaining food grains, the FCI keeps them in a number of storage facilities located all around the nation. The company has a network of warehouses and godowns in practically every state in the union. To guarantee that the food grains are stored in the best possible circumstances, these storage facilities are outfitted with contemporary storage and handling technology.

Additionally, the FCI keeps a strategic reserve of food grains on hand to meet any emergency needs. The strategic reserve is kept at a level that will provide for the nation's food security requirements for a certain amount of time.

Amount of Food Grains Distributed

Food grains are distributed by the FCI to different states and areas of the nation. The company delivers food to the Public Distribution System (PDS), a federal program for food security that offers food to the underprivileged and weaker segments of society at reduced costs.

Additionally, the FCI provides food grains to a number of welfare programs, including the Integrated Child Development Services Program and the Mid-Day Meal Program. Additionally, the organization provides food grains to nations suffering from natural disasters or other urgent situations.

FCI's function in the PDS (Public Distribution System)

The FCI is essential to the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India's success. The PDS is a nationwide program for ensuring food security that offers food grains at discounted prices to the underprivileged and weaker segments of society. The FCI provides food grains to the PDS through a network of state-run Fair Price Shops (FPS), which are used by state governments to operate the PDS.

A number of locations around the nation have built FPSs to provide food to qualified recipients. The state governments sell the food grains to beneficiaries for a small portion of the market price, while the FCI provides food grains to the FPS at a discounted rate. BPL (Below Poverty Line), APL (Above Poverty Line), and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families are among those who benefit from the PDS.

The FCI plays a critical role in the PDS by ensuring that food grains are delivered to the FPS on schedule and in the necessary quantities. Additionally, the FCI keeps an eye on the grain quality supplied to the PDS and intervenes if any problems are found. To verify that food grains are supplied to qualified recipients, the organization also regularly inspects FPS.

Issues faced by FCI

The FCI encounters a number of difficulties in efficiently performing its duties. Let's talk about some of the organization's main obstacles.

Procurement Challenges

The purchase of food grains is one of the major difficulties the FCI faces. The company purchases food grains at MSPs set by the government, which occasionally causes a mismatch between supply and demand. There are instances where MSPs are more than market pricing, which results in over-purchase and surplus inventory. However, there are instances where MSPs are less than market rates, which results in insufficient procurement and shortages.

The FCI encounters difficulties while obtaining food grains from isolated and steep places. It is difficult to get and store food grains in these places due to a lack of transportation infrastructure and poor storage facilities.

Storage Issues

The FCI suffers a number of storage issues, including insufficient storage space, poor facility management, and losses from pests and rats. The company has a network of godowns and warehouses in practically every state in the union, but many of these buildings need to be repaired since they are outdated.

Additionally, managing the strategic reserve of food grains presents difficulties for the FCI. The strategic reserve is kept at a level that will fulfill the nation's demands for food security for a certain amount of time; however, sustaining this reserve necessitates appropriate storage space and frequent stock rotation.

Distributive Issues

When distributing food grains to different states and regions across the nation, the FCI faces numerous difficulties. The timely delivery of food grains to the PDS is one of the major obstacles. Food grains must be made timely and in the necessary amounts accessible to the FPS, according to the FCI.

Targeting the appropriate recipients for the PDS presents additional issues for the FCI. The system is frequently faulted for being ineffective in locating and selecting qualified recipients. The efficiency of the scheme has been harmed by several instances of food grains intended for the PDS leaking out or being diverted.

Conclusion

Food security in India is greatly influenced by the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The company is in charge of obtaining, storing, and delivering food grains to different regions of the nation. The major responsibility of the FCI is to get food grains from surplus areas and distribute them to deficit areas.

The Public Distribution System (PDS), a national food security program in India that supplies food grains to the underprivileged and vulnerable segments of society at reduced prices, has benefited greatly from the FCI's contributions. However, the FCI encounters a number of difficulties in efficiently performing its duties, including distribution, storage, and procurement issues.

Despite these obstacles, the FCI has succeeded in overcoming them and has grown to play a significant role in India's system of food security. The organization continues to play a critical position in making sure that food grains are accessible to all societal groups, especially the weak and disadvantaged.

The FCI has made a number of moves to address the issues it is facing, including enhancing the PDS and tightening storage facilities and procurement procedures. In order to increase efficiency and transparency in its operations, the organization has also employed technological solutions.

Overall, the FCI has significantly improved India's food security and reduced the nation's poverty and hunger. To satisfy the nation's shifting demands, the organization must keep innovating and adapting since there is still space for progress.