NGO Atmashakti Trust and its allies Odisha Shramajeebee Mancha and Mahila Shramajeebee Mancha, Odisha conducted a survey on 'Consumption of Dal and its impact on nutritional food security in Odisha' which covered more than 10,000 families in 16 districts, those are dominated by tribals, Dalits and other marginalised communities.
The findings of the study revealed that “as the Government gave 1 kg of Dal per month to each family as a Covid elevation measure, 99.9 percent people said this benefited them. 63 per cent of those families said, the Dal lasted between 1 to 5 days while 27 per cent of families reportedly consumed Dal within 6 to 10 days. It emphasized that people need Dal from the Government as a nutrition supplement looking at their consumption trend.
The PRI members also felt that the Government should continue Dal in PDS and include edible oil and iodised salt in its regular supply under the State Food Security Scheme which will benefit the people who cannot afford to consume it. Hundreds of them have written a letter to the Chief Minister to consider their demand.
Sarpanch of Korukudupa Gram Panchayat in Kandhamal district Pukuru Majhi said that the Government must include Dal, edible oil and iodized salt under PDS as this will help the needy and poor to consume food that has nutritional supplements.Sarpanch Majhi has written a letter to the Chief Minister in this regard and hopes that the Government will take immediate steps to include it in the PDS. Similarly, Premashila Nayak, a ward member of Bruhabadi village of Raikia block has written a letter to the Chief Minister, urging the need to ensure nutritional food security for all.
“Nutrition has a strong correlation to health and is integral to growth and development.
We, therefore, urge the Government to take back its decision of discontinuing Dal under PDS from November as this will help the State fight against malnutrition in a big way and contribute to achieving key Sustainable Development Goals such as reduction of hunger and improvement in nutrition outcomes,†said Odisha Shramajeebee Mancha convenor Anjan Pradhan.
