STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Emphasising the need for construction of high-tech godowns in the state, Member Parliament, Mehbooba Mufti on Monday asked Food Corporation of India (FCI) to formulate a proposal for construction of two silos (modern godowns) of 50,000 MT capacity for funding from the Centre.
She said these silos would be set up near railway line in both provinces to stock adequate food-grains especially to meet the requirements in winter season, during natural calamities and other emergencies.
Chairing State Level Consultative Committee (SLCC) meeting of Food Corporation of India here on Monday, the MP impressed upon the FCI to establish additional storage capacity in every district under Private Entrepreneur Guarantee scheme (PEG) with fair geographical distribution to cover every nook and corner of the state. She asked them to build these stores as per the futuristic requirements.
In order to take benefit of procurement and minimum support price, Mehbooba directed FCI to set up permanent Mandis in food surplus districts in coordination with CAPD and Agriculture Departments and concerned PRIs for timely off-take of grains from both the provinces. She said this would help in improving financial condition of the farmers besides providing them a platform for selling their crops at better rates.
Regarding end-to-end computerization of CAPD Department, the MP asked the concerned to complete the first phase of the project this fiscal to modernize the entire supply chain.
Minister of CAPD and Tribal Affairs Ch Zulfkar Ali was also present in the meeting.
Zulfkar said for effective public distribution system FCI and CAPD Department need to synergize their efforts for timely implementation of end-to-end computerization. He called for organizing of awareness camps for the consumers regarding consumer rights like DBTL, Home delivery of LPG etc. He instructed the concerned authorities for covering all CA&PD and FCI stores with Management Information System (MIS) to track movement of supplies chain to reduce pilferage of food-grains.
Other issues deliberated in the meeting included timely procurement and distribution of food-grains, prevention of transit and storage losses, effective sale and disposal of stocks and expediting the printing of ration cards.
Secretary CAPD, General Manager FCI, Director CAPD Kashmir, Director CAPD Jammu besides representatives of SLCC and senior officers of CA&PD attended the meeting.
