WFP chief hails India's food security scheme

Beasley, who concluded his visit to India on Monday, also visited the country’s crucial safety net programmes that provide subsidized food to millions of people.

"With the world’s largest food safety-net programs, India is a shining example of how effective social protection can play a critical role in achieving food security - especially now as the world faces an unprecedented global hunger crisis. Lessons learnt from India can guide other nations and I encourage India to share its success story with the world," WFP Executive Director said in a statement.

"It is also exciting that India will be taking over the G20 Presidency in 2023: I look forward to its government’s leadership on issues including food security," he added.

According to a statement issued by WFP on Wednesday, Beasley visited a school meal preparation facility here that provides hot meals to 25,000 students in government schools. India’s school meal programme also known as Prime Minister Poshan scheme covers close to 110 million school children with hot-cooked meals, daily. Working closely with the government, WFP is pioneering multi-micronutrient fortification of school meals, building capacities of staff preparing the meals and supporting the scale-up of ration production units.

Beasley also visited a public food distribution centre in New Delhi that provides subsidized rations to vulnerable families. The scheme currently covers 800 million people throughout the country and WFP partners with the government to support its largest social safety net by improving efficiency and effectiveness.

WFP is also working with the government on innovations like automated grain dispensers, and SMART warehouses that are more efficiently managed and capable of being remotely run, the statement read.

(With UNI inputs)