Bhubaneswar: Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida today asked departmental officials to give attention to address regional nutritional inequality in Odisha.
Shrimati Parida was speaking at the State level THR (take home ration) Conclave, organized by the Department of Women and Child Development with the collaboration of UNICEF here today.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that making Odisha free from malnutrition is the government’s priority. She lauded the support of the Central Government for its support in implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan and other nutrition interventions in the state.
She, however, emphasized the need for strengthening the existing systems and bringing about transformation in the nutrition supplements provided under “Take Home Ration” for the beneficiaries in the state.
Shrimati Parida stressed upon the need to reduce malnutrition and achieve the dream of zero malnutrition in the state of Odisha. She believed that the discussion among the stakeholders on the best practices, options for Take Home rations and production would help the state to refine and modify its existing strategy for nutrition.
Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja opined that Malnutrition free Odisha is the major goal to achieve for Odisha Vision – 2047. “We must work in mission mode with time bound manners to eradicate malnutrition,” he said.
Subha Sarma, Principal Secretary, W&CD, said that this program is organized to learn from other implementing states on the state specific nutrition interventions, different types of THR produced, THR production models, value addition done to the existing THR, best practices adopted in the respective states.
At the outset, Director, ICDS & Social Welfare welcomed all delegates to the conference and made a presentation on the nutrition scenario of Odisha and the various initiatives taken up by the state for nutrition.
Technical Institutes such as CFTRI and NIN and Amul from Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation presented Innovations in THR Production, distribution, and monitoring and offered suggestions and solutions for strengthening THR in the State.
This conclave was also attended by secretaries and senior officers from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Assam and Jharkhand. Senior Scientists and Officials from CFTRI (Mysore), NIN(Hyderabad), Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation (Amul), NIT (Rourkela), World Food Programme, UNICEF, Azim Premji Foundation, Department of Agriculture, H&FW, ST & SC, Panchayati Raj also took part in this conclave.