Odisha was recently awarded with the Rice Fortification Champion Trophy by the FSSAI for pioneering initiative in rice enrichment.
State Nodal Officer for the MDM programme Gangadhar Sahoo received the award at the National Summit on Transforming Nutrition landscape of India held in New Delhi recently.
The summit was attended by Food Safety Commissioners of all States and Union Territories, NITI Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant, FSSAI Chairman Ashish Bahuguna and CEO Pawan Kumar Agrawal.
According to the Clinical, Anthropometric and Biochemical (CAB) Study Report 2014, in Odisha, a portion of children in the age group of 5-18 years are suffering from undernourishment and many in the age group of 10-17 years suffering from Anaemia.
To address this issue many welfare schemes like PDS, ICDS, NIPI, MDM, NRHM are being implemented and Odisha has topped in rice fortification and MDM programmes.
When asked to comment, Sahoo told The Pioneer that the recognition would boost the morale to fight ‘Kuposhana’ (malnutrition) in the State in future.