Food Corporation of India set for revamp
5 Sept 2014 4:33 AM IST
Sources said the modalities of the restructuring will be discussed in the first meeting of the eight-member panel on 8 September. The committee was set up to prepare proposals on how to restructure FCI for efficient PDS system.
The meeting, which will be chaired by Food minister Ram Vilas Paswan, will focus on ensuring efficiency of the FCI in terms of its day-to-day activities and adopting cost effective ways including minimum support price (MSP) operations, storage and distribution of food-grains and food security systems of the country.
The committee is headed by Shanta Kumar, MP from Himachal Pradesh, who has been asked to submit his report by November this year.
Earlier, union finance minister Arun Jaitley, while delivering his 2014-15 Budget speech, had said that the government is committed to bring reforms in the food sector. ‘Restructuring FCI, reducing transportation and distribution losses and efficacy of PDS would be taken up on priority,’ he said.
He also said that the government is committed to provide wheat and rice at reasonable prices to the weaker sections of the society. ‘Even if due to inadequate rainfall there is a marginal decline in agriculture production, stocks in the central pool are adequate to meet any exigency. government shall, when required, undertake open market sales to keep prices under control,’ the finance minister said.
The committee will do its research on various models of restructuring the FCI and will give its suggestion based on the current situation to improve the standard of FCI in terms of its daily operation and financial management.
The other members of the committee include FCI chairman and managing director C Viswanath, former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) Ashok Gulati, academicians G Raghuram, Gunmadi Nancharaiah from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.
The meeting, which will be chaired by Food minister Ram Vilas Paswan, will focus on ensuring efficiency of the FCI in terms of its day-to-day activities and adopting cost effective ways including minimum support price (MSP) operations, storage and distribution of food-grains and food security systems of the country.
The committee is headed by Shanta Kumar, MP from Himachal Pradesh, who has been asked to submit his report by November this year.
Earlier, union finance minister Arun Jaitley, while delivering his 2014-15 Budget speech, had said that the government is committed to bring reforms in the food sector. ‘Restructuring FCI, reducing transportation and distribution losses and efficacy of PDS would be taken up on priority,’ he said.
He also said that the government is committed to provide wheat and rice at reasonable prices to the weaker sections of the society. ‘Even if due to inadequate rainfall there is a marginal decline in agriculture production, stocks in the central pool are adequate to meet any exigency. government shall, when required, undertake open market sales to keep prices under control,’ the finance minister said.
The committee will do its research on various models of restructuring the FCI and will give its suggestion based on the current situation to improve the standard of FCI in terms of its daily operation and financial management.
The other members of the committee include FCI chairman and managing director C Viswanath, former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) Ashok Gulati, academicians G Raghuram, Gunmadi Nancharaiah from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.
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