The Directorate is the Central Statistical Wing of the Food & Supplies Department. It functions not only as the store house of Statistical information particularly of supply and prices of food articles and other essential commodities in their various aspects, but also prepare analytical reports of availability, consumption, supply and prices from time to time. The Directorate regularly collects and monitors prices of principal cereals and some essential food and non-food items of consumption and offers advice on the broad issues of the food policy from economic and statistical angle. Within its limited resources, it also undertakes urgent field enquiries using statistical techniques for collection of data, as and when required.