Govt urged to provide local rice for ICDS, MDM schemes
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, October 28 2021: Loumee Shinmee Apunba Lup (LOUSAL) Manipur has appealed to state government to replace rice provided under Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) by tastier and healthier local varieties and allocate the required budget for procuring all the paddy rice.produced by farmers of the state to enable replacement of rice for the two schemes.

Addressing media persons at Manipur Press Club here on Thursday, LOUSAL president M Churamani said that local rice consumed by children of the state has more taste, is healthy and contains more calories than rice brought from outside.

The 'common rice' provided un-der'Mid-Day Meal scheme is not favourable for children of the state, he said, adding that consuming bland food will be not be beneficial particularly to children as food is very much related with the mental growth and health of human beings.

Stressing the need for providing benefit df NFSA to people of the state, Churamani said that farmers need to be encouraged to produce surplus food if the state wants to have food security.

As such the government should allocate adequate budgetary provision every year to procure entire paddy rice produced by the farmers so that 'common rice' under ICDS and MDM could be replaced by local rice.

He also urged the state government to depute one agricultural producer commissioner so that there could be close coordination between agriculture and other line departments and have friendly approach to farmers.

The LOUSAL president further urged the government to consult local farmers whenever irrigation related schemes like construction and digging of canal, pond, well, barrage" and dam are taken up and the Manipur Land Use Board be revived to save paddy lands of the state.

He also expressed strong resentment that every political party mentions welfare of the farmers in their manifesto before any elections but never translates them into action.

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