Itanagar: To provide food security to the people of Arunachal Pradesh, 1464 metric tonnes of fortified rice was lifted earlier this month for distribution under the Integrated Child and Development Services (ICDS), Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM Poshan) and National Food Security Act (NFSA) schemes during the third quarter of fiscal 2022-23.
Under PM Poshan, a total of 1,671 primary schools with a total enrolment of 103,229 students received 2,281.78 tonnes and 1,158 upper primary schools with a total enrolment of 55,367 students received 1,802 tonnes of rice till the time of filing this report.
Known as the national programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools earlier, PM Poshan is one of the foremost rights-based centrally sponsored schemes under the NFSA, 2013. The primary objective of the scheme is to improve the nutritional status of children studying in classes’ I-VIII in eligible schools.
The main focus of the ICDS is on children between 0-8 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
The directorate of women and child development, Itanagar, supplies food grains to the different districts through the child development project officers of the districts concerned, which is collected from the Food Corporation of India depots.
Apart from this, fortified rice is also distributed in Namsai, East Kameng, and Tirap districts through the District Food and Civil Supply Office.
Out of the 26 districts in the states, the NITI Aayog under the targeted public distribution system and other welfare schemes selected these three districts and categorised them as aspirational (Namsai) and high-burden (East Kameng and Tirap).
The food grains for these districts reach the consumers through the fair price shop at a subsidised rate of Rs 3 per kilo of rice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address in 2021 had announced the supply of fortified rice in every scheme of the Centre throughout the country by 2024 in a phased manner.
A total of 151 districts across the country have already lifted fortified rice under the targeted public distribution system in Phase II of the Rice Fortification Programme.
Fortification is the process of adding fortified rice kernels containing FSSAI-prescribed micronutrients (iron, folic acid and vitamin B12) to normal rice.
Fortified rice is nearly identical to traditional rice in aroma, taste, and texture and is found to be a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets.
It is a step towards nutritional security and helps in fighting anaemia and malnutrition in the country.
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