The Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution recently reported to the Rajya Sabha that the government has sanctioned the Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on “Fortification of Rice & its Distribution under Public Distribution System”. This initiative was approved for three years starting from 2019-2020 and has a total budget of Rs. 174.64 Cr.
This scheme aims to manage anemia and micronutrient deficiency in India. It directs the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to devise a detailed plan for procuring and distributing fortified rice throughout the country under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme from 2021-2022. The mid-day meal scheme, now called PM POSHAN, and special focus is maintained on providing fortified rice to the 112 specially identified Aspirational Districts of the country.
Objectives of the Scheme
The primary objective of this scheme is to distribute Fortified Rice through the Public Distribution System. Initially, this should cover 15 districts of the country, preferably one district per state. Other goals include covering National Food Security Act beneficiaries under PDS with Fortified Rice in the chosen districts, facilitating cross-learning and sharing best practices among States/UTs and the Department of Food and Public Distribution, and evaluating the efficiency or effectiveness of fortified rice consumption in reducing micronutrient deficiencies in varying age and gender groups.
Understanding Food Fortification and Its Need
Food Fortification refers to the addition of crucial vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, Vitamin A & D to staple foods like rice, milk, and salt to enhance their nutritional content. As per the Food Ministry, fortifying rice is a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets.
India records very high levels of malnutrition among women and children. In fact, every second woman in the country is anemic, and every third child is stunted. India’s position slipped to 101st in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th. Thus, fortifying rice with micronutrients provides an effective solution to supplement the diet of the less privileged.
Government Initiatives Related to Food Fortification
October 2016 saw the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India operationalizing the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations. This was targeted at reducing the high burden of micronutrient malnutrition in India by fortifying staples such as Wheat Flour, Rice, Milk, Edible Oil, and Double Fortified Salt.
Similarly, India’s National Nutritional strategy in 2017 had listed food fortification as one of the interventions to manage anemia, vitamin A, and iodine deficiencies. Additionally, the Milk Fortification Project, a pilot project launched by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in collaboration with the World Bank and Tata Trusts in 2017, underscores the government’s commitment to address malnutrition through food fortification.