Following the 14-day lockdown imposed in Guwahati from Sunday (June 28) midnight and adhering to the government directive, the FCI has also closed down its Northeast Zonal Office in Ulubari in Guwahati.
The FCI Zonal Office has been shut down since Sunday and notably, this is for the first time in the history that the corporation has decided to close down the office.
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Apart from the Zonal office, FCI’s godown in Changasari, the largest in the Northeast, has also been closed down.
Even though Changsari area falls out of Guwahati’s jurisdiction, the decision to keep the godown close was taken following the problems that arose in administrating the godown after the lockdown was declared in Guwahati.
It may be mentioned here that with a storage capacity of 50,000 MT, majority of food grains, which are sent across the northeast, are stored in this godown itself.
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Apart from the Changsari godown, the FCI has also closed its New Guwahati-based godown which has a storage capacity of 34,000 MT.
Due to the closure of the two godowns, it is almost a certainty that there would be an acute scarcity of food grains across the Northeast.
Speaking to Northeast Now, Anurag Gupta, Executive Director (NE), FCI, said, “There won’t be any scarcity of food grains across Northeast due to this.”
“Due to the closure of the FCI office and godowns, the effect will be felt only in Guwahati,” he said.
“We have requested the government to relax the lockdown norms, especially for FCI, so that we can keep serving the people better,” Gupta added.
He also informed that the Changsari godown will become operational soon.