December is the follow-up month at TNM where we go back to headlines of the past for a status update. In this series we strive to bring focus back to promises made by governments, revisit official investigations that should have been completed by now and exhume issues of public interest that lost steam over time.
The Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) Telangana region says it is fully equipped to fulfil the target of distributing fortified rice, in particular districts in the state, as planned under the phase 2 of the fortified rice scheme of the Union government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that fortified rice would be made available to every poor person in the country in a speech delivered on August 15, 2021.
As part of this campaign, it was decided to implement the initiative in three phases. Phase 1 was envisaged with the plan to provide fortified rice as part of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and PM Poshan scheme all over India by March 2022. In phase 2 fortified rice would be provided as part of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) in aspirational and high burden districts. The target was set as March 2023 for this mission.
Aspirational districts are those districts in the country which are affected by poor socio-economic indicators. High-burden districts are the bottom 25% of the districts in each state which are in need of improvements in health outcomes. All Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts and districts with majority tribal population, whose composite health index is below 50%, are also considered in the list of high-burden districts. In Telangana, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Jayashankar Bhupalpally and Bhadradri Kothagudem are aspirational districts, while Adilabad is a high-burden district.
Nearly three months before the deadline, FCI’s Telangana region says it is already equipped to fulfil this goal. But what is fortified rice and what exactly are its benefits?
Fortification is the process of adding Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK), containing micronutrients like iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 to normal rice. The process involves production of fortified rice kernels from a mixture using an extruder machine. The fortified rice kernels are then mixed in the ratio of 1:100 with normal rice. The fortified rice kernels look very similar to normal rice. The Union government had proposed supply of fortified rice in the public distribution system with the aim of improving immunity levels of people in the background of coronavirus and other viruses.
According to Dr Rajan Kumar, Divisional Manager at FCI says, “By using fortified rice, great success can be achieved in fighting anaemia and malnutrition prevalent in children, pregnant and lactating mothers and the general public. Since rice is the staple food of two-thirds of Indians, fortified rice will ensure an easy supply of nutrients to a large population.”
In terms of procurement and distribution, FCI says they are equipped as per phase 2 of the fortified rice campaign. According to the data provided by FCI, 10.15 lakh MT of fortified rice was procured, while 4.72 lakh MT of fortified rice was dispatched in the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) of 2021-2022. Telangana FCI is now procuring only fortified rice. Out of around 2,000 rice mills in the state, 1,360 mills have already set up blending machines rendering them equipped to fortify rice.
The biggest challenge for the scheme remains awareness. FCI’s Divisional Office in the state has been playing a leading role in the awareness campaign about fortified rice. Many awareness programs were conducted among the beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System. Several campaigns are being organised among school students with the hope to spread awareness about the benefits of fortified rice.
According to Sudhakara Rao, Deputy General Manager, FCI Hyderabad, creating awareness remains the only challenge. “There are several misconceptions in the minds of the people. Several videos are viral often of plastic rice and other claims. Fortified rice kernels look slightly different. The texture and smell are very similar. People should realise that fortified rice is healthy. The Telangana unit of FCI is heading at a good pace, and we are equipped for the March 2023 deadline,” Rao says.
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