While appreciating the use of mobile technology and localised innovative ways in 'Anganwadi kendras' in the country to fight malnutrition among children, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday also asked people to popularise " healthy millet-made dishes" on social media ahead of the festivals season and before the commencement of the UN-announced 'Millet-year' 2023.
Modi said that millets- the coarse grain- of which India is the " largest producer" in the world have been categorised as "superfood" .
Addressing people in his monthly radio talk 'man ki baat', the Prime Minister touched on a range of issues including the countrywide "josh" for the tricolour in the celebrations of 'Amrit Kal' and the need for water conservation and resurrecting water bodies all over the country.
Speaking about the need for water conservation Modi cited many successful efforts toward making 'Amrit Sarovars' and recharging of water bodies, particularly in rural areas.
He informed viewers about the Amrit Sarovar built-in Mocha Gram Panchayat in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh which is constructed near the Kanha National Park and has "further enhanced the beauty of this area."
Similarly, he said the newly constructed Shaheed Bhagat Singh Amrit Sarovar in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, built in the Niwari Gram Panchayat, is spread over 4 acres and the "tree plantation on the shoreline of the lake is enhancing its beauty and People are also coming from far and wide to see the 35 feet high tricolor near the lake."
The Prime Minister said this campaign of Amrit Sarovars is going on in full swing in Karnataka as well. He said in village 'Bilkerur' of Bagalkot district, people have built a very beautiful Amrit Sarovar to channelize all the flooding water and thus also solve the problem of floods in the area.
"The Amrit Sarovar Abhyan Amrit Sarovars are being used for quenching the thirst of animals as well as for farming. Due to these ponds, the groundwater table of the surrounding areas has risen", he said.
" I urge all of you, especially my young friends, to actively participate in the Amrit Sarovar campaign and lend full strength to these efforts of water conservation & water storage and take them forward", Modi said. Prime Minister spoke about the use of technology and local innovative ways to in 'Anganwadi kendras' to deal with malnutrition among children.
"My dear countrymen, an interesting project is being run in Bongai village of Assam – Project Sampoorna. The purpose of this project is to fight against malnutrition and the method too is very unique.
"Under this, the mother of a healthy child from an Anganwadi center meets the mother of a malnourished child every week and discusses all the nutrition-related information. That is, one mother becomes a friend of another mother, helps her, and teaches her.
With the help of this project, in this region, in one year, malnutrition has been eradicated in more than 90 percent children", said the Prime Minister.
" The “Mera Bachha Abhiyan” in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh organises bhajan-kirtans in the district, in which teachers as nutrition gurus were called. A Matka program was also held, in which women bring a handful of grains to the Anganwadi center and with this grain, a 'Balbhoj' is organized on Saturdays. Besides this increase in the attendance of children in Anganwadi centers, malnutrition has also shown a dip", he said. A unique campaign is also going on in Jharkhand to increase awareness about malnutrition. A snake-ladder game has been prepared in Giridih, Jharkhand. Through play, children learn about good and bad habits.
Modi said "better use of technology and also public participation has become an important part of the Nutrition campaign. From providing mobile devices to millions of Anganwadi workers in the country, a Poshan Tracker has also been launched to monitor the accessibility of Anganwadi services", he said.
Modi said the 'Jal Jeevan Mission' is also going to have a huge impact in making India malnutrition free.
The Prime Minister appealed to countrymen to make millet dishes popular in the coming festive seasons. He said at Indian initiative United Nations has declared 2023 as Year of Millets.
Modi said Sridevi Varadarajan from Chennai has sent him "a reminder" also "sent me a millet map of the country."