Bhubaneswar: The state government is all set to distribute fortified rice in Malkangiri district under public distribution system (PDS) in an attempt to address the issue of micronutrient deficiency and anaemia among people.
Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FS&CW) department will execute the scheme on a pilot basis in the tribal-dominated district which will be extended to other districts based on the experience and learning gained from the pilot project, sources said.
The objective of this pilot project is to address anaemia and micronutrients’ deficiency amongst beneficiaries consuming rice supplied under PDS.
The fortified rice will be distributed to all the PDS beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and State Food Security Scheme (SFSS), they said.
In the given project, to fortify the rice, these fortified rice kernels will be blended with the rice in a ratio of 1:100, it means, 1MT of FRK is mechanically blended with every 100 MTs of rice to get 101 MTs of appropriately fortified rice.
The state government is aiming at supplying the fortified rice to the PDS beneficiaries from December this year.
With the implementation of the project, the beneficiaries will get iron, Vitamin B12, and folic acid. The fortification will improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health, said an official.
Earlier, the government has implemented rice fortification project in midday meal (MDM) scheme in Gajapati and Deogarh districts.