Centre to fully implement rice fortification programme before March 2024 target
rice fortification programme before the scheduled target of March 2024, a top food ministry official said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address in 2021, said the government aims to distribute fortified rice via the government schemes by 2024.
Thereafter, a scheme for the distribution of fortified rice, containing prescribed micronutrients (Iron, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12) was launched in October 2021 in a phased manner in order to address the problem of anaemia in children and women.
In April 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the supply of fortified rice throughout the Public Distribution System (PDS), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman-PM POSHAN (erstwhile Mid-Day Meal Scheme) and other welfare schemes in all states and Union Territories (UTs) by 2024 in a phased manner.
The entire cost of rice fortification, which is around Rs 2,700 crore per annum, would be borne by the Centre as part of the food subsidy till its full implementation up to June 2024.
«We had planned to complete the universalisation of fortified PDS rice by March 2024.
