Wheat flour fortification programme to be launched in city

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Chandigarh, Jun 2 (UNI) The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department of Chandigarh Administration plans to launch an ambitious wheat flour fortification programme in the city.

Under the plan, all wheat flour being sold in the city will be fortified with micronutrients, vitamins and minerals for the benefit of residents.

Experiments world-over have shown that such fortification has immediate and positive effects on the overall nutritional status of people.

The guideline for appropriate nutrient-mix for the people of the city will be issued by the Director, Health Services, Chandigarh.

The department has developed a comprehensive and integrated plan to ensure citizen convenience and to bring in greater efficiency and transparency in its working.

Under the plan, all three core functions of the department that is development (by harnessing the benefits of technology for citizens), regulation (by checking pilferage of stocks outside the Public Distribution System) and improving food Security and nutrition would be dealt with, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Director Food and Civil Supplies, Mr R K Rao, said.

The department has already developed a comprehensive website which would provide various facilities like online application for ration cards, display of daily rates of essential commodities, display of details of all existing ration cards and online grievance redressal section.

For this, the department has already made data entry of about 60,000 existing ration card records and scanned the group photos and application forms. With the online display of these details, chances of fake ration cards being issued would be eliminated and issuance of duplicate ration card against loss of previous ration card facilitated.

Mr Rao said that all future applications for ration cards would be processed through a bio-metric software module which has been developed by the department. This module has facility for taking digital photographs and digital finger-prints of the applicants which would eliminate any chances of bogus or duplicate entries.

In the next phase, the department would develop a software module at kerosene distribution pumps where kerosene oil would be released only against finger-print verification, thus totally eliminating any kind of oil pilferage.

The department had recently conducted an intensive verification drive for all ration cards at all kerosene pumps as a result of which about 20,000 ration cards were cancelled.

UNI

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