State gets Jan Poshan push, 60 kendras to come up soon

Hyderabad: Telangana gets 60 Jan Poshan Kendras (JPK) for serving the daily needs of the people. As part of the Union government’s pilot project, select Fair Price Shops (FPS) are being transformed into centres providing a variety of essentials and products, including pulses, dairy products, essentials, and millets beyond subsidised food grains.

Telangana is the only State from the South that has been selected as part of the pilot project, besides Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. These kendras will offer a diverse range of nutrition-rich food items to consumers as well as provide an additional source of income to the FPS dealers, as these centres will remain open through out the month, thereby effectively utilising the shop space and manpower.

The kendra, which was taken up as part of the first 100-day programme of the Central government will have provisions for storing 50 per cent products under the category of nutrition, while the rest are for keeping other household items. This is aimed at further strengthening the food security ecosystem, ensuring strict quality control, and curbing malnutrition.

Union Minister for Food, Consumer Affairs, and Public Distribution Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi launched the pilot project in Delhi on August 20. He said that these kendras will provide better incomes to FPS dealers, besides providing nutrition rich food items to consumers.

Udaan, the B2B e-commerce company, has partnered with the Union Ministry and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to transform FPSs into JPK.

According to the company, the partnership aims to enhance the income of FPS dealers and improve the portfolio of products offered by these shops. Under the partnership, JPK will get access to over 3,500 products across various staples and FMCG categories through Udaan’s eB2B platform. SIDBI will offer credit facilities to these JPKs, enabling them to purchase food grains and FMCG products.

After a successful validation of the model, the initiative aims to expand and cover about 1.3 lakh JPKs for modernisation.