VIJAYAWADA: Aimed at providing better nutrition to women and children, fortified rice will be supplied to them at Anganwadi centres instead of the existing sortex rice varieties, Women Development and Child Welfare Department director K Shukla said. In a press statement issued on Monday, Shukla said that following the directions from the Centre, the State government has taken all measures to supply fortified rice with more nutritional value through the Andhra Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited from June.
The Anganwadi centres will be supplied with fortified rice containing micronutrients as well as iron, folic acid, which help in the development of the fetus and Vitamin B12, essential for the development of the nervous system, along with micronutrients, she explained.
She said that it will benefit 7.15 lakh pregnant women, nursing mothers and 9.66 lakh children between 36 and 72 months in various districts across the State. The project directors and CDPOs in all the districts have been instructed to give appropriate suggestions and conduct wide publicity regarding the distribution of fortified rice at the Anganwadi centres, Shukla said.