Food Corporation of India (FCI) Mokokchung gave an account of its Food Storage Depot (FSD) in Mokokochung and its functioning at a press conference on 20 September 2022.

Rongsentemjen the Depot in-charge who overlooks the overall operation of the godown clarified that Food and Civil supplies are the state entity and the FCI are from the Central team.

He said that the FCI godown at Mokokchung has a storage capacity of 3132 metric tonnes equal to approximately 65000 – 7000 bags of rice. He also said that presently the godown was 86% full or contains around 2681 metric tonnes of rice.

Rongsentemjen added that the monthly allocation for Mokokchung is 1135 metric tonnes which is issued every month to the Civil Supply Department. The depot receives between 150 and 250 truckloads of rice on an average every month.

Every month the rice is dispatched from the main Godown which is located at Dimapur. The goods arrive from different states of the country through rail at Dimapur station which is then dispatched to different districts through trucks.

He did, however, note that the Food & Civil Supplies Department’s PDS system is the conduit of distribution and that the FCI does not directly distribute to the public. Additionally, he stated that the National Food Security Act is being implemented by the FCI to carry out programs of the central government.

According to Rongsentemjen, FCI Nagaland has a division headquarter in Dimapur and five godowns in five different districts including Mokokchung.

On a quarterly basis, the FCI also distributes food grains (fortified rice) towards the mid-day meal program including Longleng District.

Fortified rice is different from normal rice as it has additional micronutrients (Iron, Follic acid, Vitamin B12).

Durgesh Thingujam, technical assistant at FCI Mokokchung, also spoke about the application of treatments to the stocks at the godown and quality control of rice grains. His work profile includes quality control of the rice in the depot.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI), a Central Government Agency, is in charge of managing the distribution of food grains across the country and its main objective is to ensure the nation’s food security and look after the public distribution system.