Food Corporation of India

Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Food Corporation of India

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is a statutory body created and run by the Government of India. It was established in 1965 under the Food Corporations Act, 1964 to ensure the food security of India. The FCI operates through its various regional offices and district offices across the country.

History

The FCI was set up on 14 January 1965 with its first District Office at Thanjavur, a rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, and headquarters at Chennai under the Food Corporations Act 1964. Later, its headquarters was moved to New Delhi.

Objectives

The primary objectives of the FCI are:

• Effective price support operations for safeguarding the interests of the farmers.
• Distribution of food grains throughout the country for the public distribution system.
• Maintaining satisfactory levels of operational and buffer stocks of food grains to ensure National Food Security.
• Regulate market price to provide food grains to consumers at a reliable price.

Functions

The FCI performs the following functions:

• Procurement of food grains from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
• Storage of food grains in its warehouses.
• Movement of food grains from surplus regions to deficit regions.
• Distribution of food grains to state governments for the Public Distribution System (PDS).

Organizational Structure

The FCI is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the Government of India. The organizational structure includes:

• Chairman and Managing Director
• Executive Directors
• General Managers
• Regional Managers
• District Managers

Operations

The FCI operates through five zonal offices, 24 regional offices, and 170 district offices. It has a large network of storage facilities, including warehouses, silos, and godowns.

Challenges

The FCI faces several challenges, including:

• Storage and wastage issues due to inadequate infrastructure.
• High operational costs.
• Inefficiencies in the procurement and distribution process.

See also

• Public Distribution System
• Minimum Support Price
• National Food Security Act, 2013
• Central Warehousing Corporation
• State Warehousing Corporation