Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles and Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Sunday said the Food Corporation of India (FCI) should emerge as a trusted partner of farmers and people of the country.

Delivering an address during 60th Foundation Day of the FCI here, Goyal said the corporation plays a crucial role in facilitating flagship schemes like Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) by providing ration to beneficiaries in every corner of the country.

However, he emphasized that the role of the FCI is not only to deliver ration, but also to instill confidence in farmers and beneficiaries by bringing transparency, efficiency and accountability.

The Union Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to make India Corruption Free. To ensure this promise of Viksit Bharat, he called upon youngsters and staff of the FCI to bring transparency and become a whistleblower.

Talking about the second area of priority, Goyal said the FCI needs to embrace digitization and technology by bringing quality. He said quality can be achieved in areas like inspection, procurement, transportation, distribution and storage.

Goyal also suggested to reduce operational costs through route optimization, mechanised loading/unloading, innovative storage solutions and others.

He said the FCI’s Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) operations have also proved to be an effective tool in moderating the prices of essential commodities like wheat and rice to benefit consumers.

Goyal added that Bharat Atta, Bharat Dal, interventions regarding Onion and Tomato has assisted Government of India in price stabilization.

He said the FCI has provided fair value of farmer’s produce and ensured no farmer should take up distress sale.

The Union Minister said the Corporation should collectively continue to work towards strengthening dialogue with the farmers.

He further added the FCI has now entered the modern era operations, adopting digitization, streamlining the procurement process, setting up state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment, streamlining food grains procurement, construction of steel silos for better storage, installing CCTV cameras for better monitoring thereby, bettering infrastructure.

Present during the event was Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ashok KK Meena, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) FCI and other officers and staff.