Dimapur, May 4 (MExN): Amidst the unprecedented nationwide lockdown and the consequent challenges, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is proving its worth both in letter and in spirit, justifying its motto of “Ensuring food security of Nation”.
A press statement issued by the FCI stated that to ameliorate the hardship of the people due to the prevailing situation in accessing foodgrain and to aid the States in their fight against Covid-19 pandemic, the Government of India has come up with various measures:
• Allowing the States to lift their April to June 2020 allocation under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) ‘on credit’ basis
• Provisioning of 5 kg foodgrain per person per month for the period of April to June 2020 to all the Priority House Hold (PHH) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for free in addition to their regular monthly allocation at the highly subsidised rate
• Allowing the charitable/non-Governmental Organisations to buy food grain from FCI with intimation to the concerned DCs for the purpose of helping the needy people.
“With these much needed interventions by the Government, the role and responsibility of FCI has also increased. And in the true spirit of selfless public service, FCI Nagaland team with its labourers, transporters and officials are working relentlessly, rising to the occasion,” Bankim Phonglo, Divisional Manager, FCI stated in the release.
He also said that the skeletal staff of less than 50 officials of the FCI Nagaland team has been working persistently to ensure the sufficiency of food grain in our Food Storage Depots (FSD) located in Dimapur, Kohima, Mon, Mokokchung, Tuensang and hired capacity of Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) in Dimapur, so that the State authorities of Nagaland can promptly lift and distribute food grain to the intended beneficiaries. There is also continuous dispatch of food grain to the depots in Manipur for fulfilling the requirement there.
As on May 1, with 75% utilisation of its total storage capacity of 46480 MT, FCI Nagaland region has stock for more than 1.7 months’ requirement. Already, since the lockdown and upto May 1, approximately 36549 Metric Tonne (MT) of rice has been unloaded at FSD Dimapur railway siding and more rakes with increased frequency are in the pipeline.
During this period, 9958 MT rice under April and May allocation of PMGKAY and 17828 MT rice of May and June allocation of NFSA for Nagaland have been lifted.
To put in perspective, while the monthly allocation under NFSA for Nagaland is 11505 MT, the monthly allocation decided by Government of India for PMGKAY is 7023 MT.
In addition, 249 MT rice has been lifted by different NGOs and charitable organisations, helping the vulnerable people in the state. During the same period a total of 19753 MT of rice has also been dispatched to different FSDs in Manipur.
“While we sincerely hope for the normal times to return soon enough, we would also like to reassure that with the support of the public, civil and police administration, FCI Nagaland team will continue to play its role with unwavering commitment to public service,” it added.
