Centre launches Depot Darpan e-portal to improve efficiency and real-time monitoring of food grain storage

Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on May 20 launched Depot Darpan, an electronic portal to ensure food storage depots meet quality standards, along with real-time assessment of their operational and financial performance.

“We can sit here (in Delhi) and understand what is happening in nook and corner. You can instruct from here how they can improve the standard, quality and safety of their depots by sitting here in Delhi or anywhere in the country,” said Pralhad Joshi, at the launch hosted by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD).

Depot Darpan would create a seamless digital monitoring ecosystem that includes CCTV surveillance and IoT sensors to monitor parameters such as CO₂ & phosphine levels, fire hazards, humidity, unauthorized entry and temperature in real-time, thereby ensuring security and efficiency in food grain storage.

The government plans to assess warehouses based on two categories, namely, infrastructural aspects and operational efficiency.

The infra assessment includes safety, storage conditions, technological adoption, and statutory parameters. Operational efficiency includes stock turnover, losses, space utilization, manpower expenses, and profitability.

Each category would be evaluated independently, and the warehouse would then receive a star rating based on the composite scoring from both parameters. A total of around 2,278 warehouses including those owned by Food Corporation of India (FCI), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and that hired from state or private agencies would be onboarded on the portal.

Minister Joshi also launched two apps, namely, Anna Mitra and Anna Sahayata - for lodging grievances via the Ration Card Management System (RCMS).

For infrastructural upgradation of godowns (or warehouses), Joshi said CWC is investing around Rs 280 crore and FCI is investing Rs 1,000 crore.