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Aiming to promote benefits of fortified rice while clarifying concerns about impact of its consumption among some sections of people vulnerable to certain diseases, the Centre has asked states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana Rajasthan, and Kerala to hold workshops in this regard.

The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) has asked the states to organise workshops and seminars in the sensitive areas of tribal belts and districts that have populations that are vulnerable to thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia.

Officials said that this initiative has been carried out in Gujarat where workshops where organised in Vapi on September 9 and many ministers and higher officers, technical experts, and others attended the programme.

Neha Arora, State Programme Officer, Nutritional International, Gujarat made a presentation on fortified staples provided through social safety net programmes, and Dr. Yazdi Italia, former Honorary Director, Sickle Cell Anemia Control Programme, a Go-NGO Partnership Programme of the state goverment, on understanding Hemoglobinopathis-Sickle Cell Anemia, and Thalassemia.

At the end of the workshop, there was general consensus regarding the positive impact of rice fortification in government schemes and its significant contribution to the country's nutritional security strategy, said a government official.