Karnataka should ramp up production of millets like ragi: Union Food Secretary
New Delhi, Jan 8: Karnataka, being a large producer of ragi, should ramp up production of millets and also meet the requirement of other states, Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Saturday in a meeting with state officials.
Pandey, in the meeting with the state chief secretary and other officials, said the Karnataka government should also tie up with the Indian Institute of Millets in Hyderabad for increased market penetration of millet products through startups.
"The Food Secretary further informed that the requirement of millets of other states can also be met by Karnataka with the Centre bearing all the handling and transportation costs," an official statement said.
The state should ramp up millets output as 2023 has been declared as the International year of Millets, he added.
The Union Food Secretary also suggested the state government to procure fortified rice locally and undertake fortification of rice at milling stage itself.
He said FRK (fortified rice kernels) units be set up to achieve the long-term objective of 100 per cent fortified rice for aspirational and heavy burdened districts.
Further, Pandey asked the state government to rope in its health department to monitor health development of children to get benefits under the Integrated Child Development Scheme and Midday Meal Scheme under which fortified rice distribution is undertaken.
This apart, Pandey said the central government has already approved procurement of local varieties of paddy in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada for self-consumption by the state.
On the state's request to release advance subsidy, the Union Food Secretary asked the Karnataka government to submit their provisional expenditure before commencement of procurement operations based on which advances can be released.
The state government suggested having one unified software for procurement operations to which Pandey said the same is under consideration.
With Karnataka being one of the largest producers of sugar, Pandey suggested that the ethanol production and blending be encouraged as the state is one of the eight identified states for introduction of 100 ethanol bunks in metros.
He also informed that 'One Nation One Ration Card' for migrant labourers, coffee plantation workers and other settlement workers engaged in construction activities can be actively taken up by the state government for real benefit of the poor.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
