The conference will cover an array of issues. It will discuss food fortification, diversification of food basket, crop diversification and reforms in PDS and storage sector. Best practices from states will also be presented.
The Department of Food and Public Distribution is organizing a one-day National Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in India on Tuesday 5 July 2022 in New Delhi. The conference is aimed at facilitating cross learning, disseminating best practices for schemes under Public Distribution System (PDS) and strengthening the focus on nutritional security.
The one-day-long conference will cover an array of issues. It will discuss food fortification, diversification of food basket, crop diversification and reforms in PDS and storage sector. Besides this, it will also unveil government plans to launch an integrated version of the Annavitran portal, referred to as Annavitran 2.0. The conference will also provide for presentation of replicable best practices being followed in some of the states.
Many experts from the food policy sector with whom OWSA spoke said they were not sure how much would be achieved by discussing so many issues in the course of just one day. Besides, the doors of the conference are closed to many experts and groups holding views contrary to the government position on food fortification.
However, one source in the ministry of consumer affairs defended the decision to close the doors on food rights groups and said that the conference was inter-ministerial in nature.
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The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal, will address the conference, besides the two Ministers of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
“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,” says the Press Information Bureau.
India’s Targeted Public Distribution System, under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) is the largest public food-security program in the world. This system manages the food security requirements of around 80 crore beneficiaries across India, through a country-wide network of over 5.33 lakh fair price shops.
“The food security response of the Government through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) combined with One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) during COVID-19 pandemic 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,” the PIB said in its curtain-raiser release for the conference.
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Image: Department of Consumer Affairs
