Ram Vilas Paswan to review panel suggestions on FCI restructuring

NEW DELHI: Food minister Ram Vilas Paswan has called a meeting on February 11 to review the recommendations of a highlevel committee on restructuring Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Officials of Central Warehousing Corporation, the warehousing development and regulatory authority, FCI and the food and consumer affairs secretaries have been asked to present an action plan. “We will be giving our views on what recommendations can be implemented and what cannot to the government,” said an FCI official.

Ministry officials said the government was keen to implement the suggestions of the panel headed by former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar to improve FCI’s operational efficiency and financial management, as well as overall improvement in management of food grains. The eight-member panel, which was set up in August 2014, submitted its report on January 19. Kumar has also been minister for rural development and consumer affairs at the Centre.

Food secretary Sudhir Kumar has called a meeting of his counterparts in wheat-procuring states on the rabi procurement arrangement on February 16. Wheat procurement starts April 1, with government needing 28.02 million tonnes for various social schemes in the 2014-15 marketing season. On January 16, the wheat stock in government granaries was 24.02 million tonnes. Secretaries will meet Thursday to decide how much can be offloaded under the open-market sale programme. The panel to review the public distribution of grains has made far-reaching recommendations.