ROURKELA: Apex public policy think tank Niti Aayog has lauded Sundargarh district administration for its successful implementation of the Odisha Millets Mission (OMM) and inclusion of ‘ragi laddu’ in the supplementary nutrition programme for pre-school children through the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).
The Aayog, in its report on ‘Take home ration-good practices across States/UTs’ hailed OMM as a unique model which boosts millet production, provides assured prices to farmers, generates livelihood for women self-help group members and addresses nutrition issues among children.
OMM implementation in the district has been included among the best practices in the country under diversification of ‘take home ration’ products. Sundargarh Collector Parag Harshad Gavali said, “By supplementing nutrition through millets, we are building a strong foundation for the growth of children.
This innovation has also helped boost income of farmers and women SHGs in the district.” A pilot project under ICDS was launched on August 15, 2020, to supply ‘ragi laddu’ to pre-school children to supplement nutrition. Within a year the project has been extended to all 17 blocks and four urban pockets of the district. The special initiative is estimated to have benefitted over 63,000 children in the age group of 3-6 years. As many as 39 SHGs have been engaged in the project for the preparation of ‘ragi laddu’.
Each child is given four ‘ragi laddus’ a week through anganwadi centres. Sources said OMM was first launched in the district in 2018 covering four blocks under the State plan. In 2020 and 2021, the administration with funding provisions from District Mineral Foundation (DMF) covered seven more blocks. Millet production areas in Sundargarh are expected to be doubled to over 6,000 hectares by the end of 2022-23.
As of now, 21 Millet Shakti kiosks including Millet Shakti Café at Rourkela are operational in the district to prepare and sell foods prepared from millets including cookies, bakes and different snacks. Similarly, two mobile units are engaged in popularising millet-based foods.
The NITI Aayog report also mentions Keonjhar district for implementation of similar initiative.