Cabinet approves fortified rice scheme to tackle malnutrition among women and children; total cost to be borne by Centre
Published on: April 9, 2022.
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In a major cabinet decision on Friday, the Central government has approved the supply of fortified rice in government-run food schemes to tackle malnutrition, poor health among women and children.The proposal was approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). During a press briefing, Union minister Anurag Thakur said FCI and state agencies have already procured 88.65 LMT of fortified rice for supply and distribution.The scheme will basically target malnutrition among women and children. The scheme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day in 2021.The entire cost of rice fortification (around Rs 2,700 crore per annum) would be borne by the centre as part of food subsidy till its full implementation upto June 2024. The scheme will be implemented in three phases.The following three phases are envisaged for full implementation of the initiative:Phase-I: Covering ICDS and PM Poshan in India all over by March, 2022 which is under implementation.Phase-II: Phase I above plus Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) in all Aspirational and High Burden Districts on stunting (total 291 districts) by March 2023.Phase-Ill: Phase II above plus covering the remaining districts of the country by March 2024.The FCI and state agencies are already engaged in the procurement of fortified rice and so far nearly 88.65 LMT of fortified rice has been procured for the supply and distribution.Earlier, the centrally sponsored pilot scheme on “Fortification of Rice and its Distribution under Public Distribution System” was implemented for a period of 3 years beginning from 2019-20. Eleven states- Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand- successfully distributed the fortified rice in their identified districts (one district per State) under the pilot scheme.
Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/in-focus/cabinet-approves-fortified-rice-scheme-to-tackle-malnutrition-among-women-and-children-article-90728001
