New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a momentous decision to introduce Millets (Shree Anna) in the meals of personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The decision to introduce 30% Millets in the meals has been taken on the clarion call of the Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, after detailed discussion with all the Forces.
Recognizing the importance of millets, and creating a domestic and global demand along with providing nutritious food to the people, at the behest of the Government of India, the United Nations declared 2023 the International Year Millets. The campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote Shree Anna will fulfill nutritional requirement of crores of people of the country.
Millets are good for health and also beneficial for farmers and environment friendly. The Millets are energy dense, drought resistant, with lower water requirements and can be grown with ease in arid soils, hilly terrain and is less susceptible to pests.
Some of the important benefits of the Millets are – good source of proteins, gluten-free; low in Glycemic Index (GI); and rich in dietary fibre, micronutrients including calcium, iron, phosphorus etc, and phyto-chemicals, thus boosting the nutritional profile of a soldier’s diet.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had asked all the forces to take action for introduction of Millets based menu. The forces have shown overwhelming response and are eager to introduce Millets in meals on regular basis. Millets will also be extensively used in various functions and events of CAPFs and NDRF.
Millets will also be made available in Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar, Grocery Shops of the campuses and Ration Store by setting up the dedicated counters/corners. The forces will organize training of cooks in preparing millets based dishes through reputed institutes in this field.
To generate awareness among the troops and their family members for use of millets, the services of dieticians and expert agencies will be utilized. Beside this, various events, exhibitions, seminars, webinars, workshops and symposiums will be conducted on ‘Know Your Millets’.
International Year of Millets (IYOM) – 2023 will provide an opportunity to increase global production, efficient processing and better use of crop rotation and promote millets as a major component of the food basket.
