The Central government is planning to cover 291 districts under the rice fortification programme by March 2023. These are the aspirational heavy burden districts in the country.
Briefing the media in New Delhi on Monday, Sudhanshu Pandey, Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution, said under Phase II of the ‘distribution of Fortified Rice through Public Distribution System (PDS)’, which began in April, overcoming all production-related challenges, 90 LMT (Lakh Metric Tonnes) of fortified rice has already been produced.
In Phase II of the programme, which includes Phase I plus TPDS (Targeted Public Distribution System) and OWS (Other Welfare Schemes) in all Aspirational and High Burden Districts, a total of 291 districts will be covered by March 2023.
The secretary informed that Phase I covered ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) and PM POSHAN the entire country by March 2022 and nearly 17 lakh MT of fortified rice was distributed. However, Under PDS, more than 90 districts (in 16 states) have started lifting fortified rice and around 2.58 Lakh MT have been distributed so far.
Pandey also said that independent concurrent evaluation would be carried out by the Development Monitoring & Evaluation Office (DMEO) under NITI Aayog of the rice fortification to assess the outcomes and impact of the programme. He added that Steering Committee in the States will monitor the implementation of the programme.
As part of vigorous implementation efforts, the Department of Food and Public Distribution has been coordinating all ecosystem-related activities with all relevant stakeholders like State Govt./UT, line Ministries/departments, Development Partners, Industries, Research Institutes, etc.
The FCI and State Agencies are engaged in the procurement of fortified rice and so far, nearly 126.25 LMT of fortified rice has been procured for the supply and distribution. The entire cost of rice fortification (around Rs. 2700 Cr. per annum) would be only borne by the Government of India as part of the food subsidy till its full implementation up to June 2024.