Indonesian delegation visits India to learn best practices in mid-day meal scheme & digital inclusion
Indonesia, following its recently concluded elections, wants to usher in new socio-economic initiatives under President-elect Prabowo and has approached India to adopt best practices in mid-day meal scheme and digital inclusion.
Notwithstanding the Ramadan period and election process in India, Mochammad Firman Hidayat, Deputy Coordinating Minister of Maritime Resources, Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesia led a high-level delegation on a visit to India last week.
The working visit was aimed at fostering collaboration in the field of biotechnology, digital inclusion, agriculture, and to study the world’s largest free school lunch programme with the objective of implementing a similar programme to provide quality meals to school students in Indonesia, officials said. The proposal for mid-day meal schemes in schools is mentioned in Prabowo’s election manifesto.
The Indonesian team held extensive meetings at New Delhi, Bangalore, Tuticorin, and Chennai with government officials, academics, researchers and entrepreneurs.
The visit commenced with meeting Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, followed by a visit to the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR). Discussions were centered on biotechnological research, development, and the innovation ecosystem in India, officials informed.
Further exploring the idea at the Ministry of Earth Sciences, both sides interacted on potential areas of cooperation, such as reducing marine debris, aqua culture,
