Assam: Fish powder becomes nutritional food supplement for school children

RANGIA: The Kamrup district administration, in connection with Rastriya Poshan Maah, has taken an initiative to scale up the ‘Matsya Paripusti’ in the Bongaon block of the Kamrup district of Assam, which is jointly implemented by the Departments of Fisheries, District Social Welfare, District Elementary Education, District Health and Family Welfare Department, and District Administration of Kamrup District with technical support from the College of Fisheries Raha and World Fish.

This is a supplementary nutrition programme to be implemented through Anganwadi Centres and LP schools in Bongaon Block, which has been supported by the World Bank and was funded by the APART Project of the ARIAS Society, Government of Assam.

The innovative initiative ‘Matsya Paripusti’ primarily seeks to improve the nutritional profile through dietary diversity and micronutrient intakes of children aged 3 to 10 years and understand the level of acceptability and any nutritional improvement after completion of the feeding programme. More than 100 Anganwadi centres and LP schools from the Bongaon development block have been selected for the purpose of reaching out to 4000 children in the age groups of 3 to 6 and 6 to 10 years old in pre-school and LP schools, respectively.

Fish powder has been introduced as a diet for schoolchildren in this block for the first time in India, as told by Dr. Sanjay Sarma, Fishery Coordinator (APART). The programme was launched by Sujata Gogoi, Additional District Commissioner, in the presence of Bikash Sarma, District Information and Public Relations Officer; Apurba Thakuria, District Elementary Education Officer; Bhupen Bhattacharyya, District Social Welfare Officer; and others.

Before the launch, the training programmes were organized, where Anganwadi workers, helpers, mothers committee representatives, supervisors, CDPO, LP school headmasters, CRCC, cooks, and school management committee members were trained on standard operating procedure to include small fish powder in the supplementary programmes of both Anganwadi and LP schools in Bongaon block. Dr. Baishnaba Charan Ratha, Senior Specialist, Nutrition and Public Health, WorldFish, facilitated the training process.

ICDS Anganwadi workers, helpers, Mothers Committee representatives, supervisors, CDPO, LP school headmasters, CRCC, Cook, and members of the School Management Committee were trained on standard operating procedure to include small fish powder in the supplementary programme of both Anganwadi and LP schools of the Boangaon block prior to the launch. The training sessions, including cooking demonstrations, were facilitated by Dr. Baishnaba Charan Ratha, Senior Specialist, Nutrition and Public Health, World Fish.

For this initiative, World Fish is providing the scientific evidence and technical support for implementing this project under the joint supervision of the district administration and the Directorate of Fisheries and by working closely with the APART project and the India Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Under the joint supervision of the district administration and the Directorate of Fisheries and in close collaboration with the APART project and the ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology,Kochi, WorldFish is supplying the scientific evidence and technical support for implementing this project initiative in Assam.

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