News paper- Super India Financial News                                12-18 December 2005

FCI's North Zone gets ISO 9001-2000

New Delhi

The Food Corporation of India, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains, will become the most sought after consultant for quality, storage and consumer services in the country in the next 10 years, the FCI Chairman and MD , Sh V.K.Malhotra, said on Thursday. Presenting the ISO 9001-2000 certificates to the North Zone of FCI in NOIDA on Thursday, Sh Malhotra said improvement in the functioning of the corporation had been a continuous process in the last 40 years with the objective of procuring foodgrains in high quality and ensuring its timely reach to the right place and the people.

The role of the FCI officers should not be restricted to the regulatory or operational level, they should play the role of food advisors to both farmers and state officials, he added.

The FCI procures and supplies over 400 lakh tonnes of foodgrains annually.

FCI supplied an additional 5,000 tonnes of rice and wheat respectively and 4,000 tonnes of sugar to earthquake affected people in J&K and about an additional 5,000 tonnes of rice to Tamil Nadu.

FCI has a total of five zones and the north zone is the largest among them. The north zone comprises eight regions with 53 district and 600 depots.

Sh Malhotra was hopeful that the remaining four zones will also get similar ISO certification, within the next four months, making the corporation a certificate organisation. The Corporate Office of FCI New Delhi, had already been conferred ISO certification in March.