Supply snags

States must contend with several production hurdles before they can roll out fortified rice as part of the Union government's plan to fight malnutrition

- BANJOT KAUR

PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi, during his Independence Day speech this August 15, declared that all beneficiaries of the public distribution system (PDS) and midday meal schemes will receive fortified rice by 2024 “to help fight malnutrition”.

On the face of it, the scheme has a huge potential for the country where, as the National Family Health Survey 2019-20 shows, more than half of the children and women are anaemic—a condition that often results from nutritional deficiencies and has become increasingly prevalent in recent years.

But what’s baffling is the lukewarm response the scheme has received since it was launched on a pilot basis in 2019 for one district each in 15 selected states. Despite 2022 being the deadline, the pilot has so far been rolled out in only nine states: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh. When Down To Earth (DTE) spoke to officials at the Centre’s Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) on October 1, 2021, they said Kerala, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand are likely to initiate the scheme soon; but Karnataka, Assam and Punjab have not made plans. They refused to divulge reasons for the delays.

As per DFPD, rice fortification involves grinding broken rice into powder and mixing it with a concoction of micronutrients such as iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 that are usually missing in our diet. Using an extruder machine, this blended rice flour is then reconstituted into kernels which resemble milled rice in size, shape and colour. These fortified kernels are then blended with regular rice at mills at a recommended proportion of one kernel per 100 g of rice and distributed for regular consumption.