New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday directed state governments to conduct awareness workshops on fortified rice in tribal belts and districts where people are vulnerable to diseases such as thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia.
The government is distributing fortified rice, blended with iron, folic acid and vitamin B12, via welfare schemes in a phased manner in order to fight malnutrition and anaemia in the country. The aim is to supply fortified rice in every government scheme by 2024. The second year of implementation of this initiative is underway.
In a statement, the Food Ministry said, "It has requested various states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, Kerala to organize workshop/seminar in the sensitive areas of tribal belts and districts having populations that are vulnerable to thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia."
The purpose of workshops is to promote the benefits of fortified Rice while elucidating the concerns about the impact of its consumption among some sections of the population that are vulnerable to thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia, it said.
The Jharkhand government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren has decided to launch a programme to distribute fortified rice through PDS across 24 districts in the state. Giving details of the government's strategies, Jharkhand food and public distribution department director Dilip Tirkey has recently said that it is part of a national programme and the government is ready to roll out the scheme across 24 districts of Jharkhand. As a part of its preparation, of the 65 rice mills in Jharkhand, blending units have been installed at 44 facilities. The Gujarat government had also recently conducted a workshop in this regard.