GS Paper 3
Source: Indian Express
India’s efforts in pushing millets:
- FSSAI: It will formulate guidelines to include millets in the food menu of schools, hospitals, and government canteens.
- “Millets canteen” to produce millets-based foods (in hospitals)
- The Youth Affairs Ministry: Webinars and conferences with leading athletes, nutritionists, and dieticians on millets through the Fit India app
- Ministry of Food Processing Industries: It has organized millet fair-cum-exhibitions in different states.
What are the benefits of millet?
- Eco-friendly: They require much less water than rice or wheat and can be grown in rain-fed areas without irrigation. They belong to the grass family & tend to be more tolerant to drought and extreme weather and can grow in poor soil and hilly areas.
- Healthy: Millets can be a healthier option to keep lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes at bay.
- Millets have a much lower glycemic index — a measure of how much blood sugar levels spike after consuming a food item — than processed rice or wheat.
- Millets are also high in fibre content which is known to improve gut microbiota.
- They are rich in micronutrients such as iron and zinc, which can help reduce the country’s burden of anaemia.
- Millets also contain niacin, which is linked to lowering triglycerides and increasing HDL or good cholesterol.
- Millets contain no gluten and suit people with gluten allergy and irritable bowel syndrome.
