Food department will host a nationwide conference to talk about bolstering food and nutrition security
The conference’s main topics of conversation will be food fortification, food basket diversification, crop diversification, integrated Annavitran Portal 2.0, and reforms to the PDS and storage industries.
The Department of Food and Public Distribution is holding a one-day National Conference on Tuesday to help spread best practises for programmes under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and increase the emphasis on nutritional security.
The conference’s main topics of conversation will be food fortification, food basket diversification, crop diversification, integrated Annavitran Portal 2.0, and reforms to the PDS and storage industries. Additionally, the best practises used in some of the states will be shared for widespread replication.
Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Commerce, Industry, and Textiles, will speak at the conference on food and nutrition security in India. Along with the ministers of Food & Civil Supplies of States and UTs, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of States (CA, F&PD), and Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, will attend the conference.
“The conference will serve as a platform to reflect upon the challenges and opportunities in the true spirit of cooperative federalism for achieving the transformation of the food and nutrition security ecosystem in the country,” said the government release.
The largest public food-security programme in the world is India’s Targeted Public Distribution System, which is governed by the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). Through a nationwide network of more than 5.33 lakh fair pricing stores, it manages the food security needs of almost 80 crore beneficiaries throughout India.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), an initiative in India that provides 5 kg of free ration to low-income households each month, has been extended through September. It has given the Scheme an additional Rs 80,000 crore.
The release stated that the government’s response to food security during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), “served as a lifeline for the people and is being hailed globally as a shining example for its efficiency and sensitivity towards poor and vulnerable sections of the society.”