Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday marked the beginning of the International Year of Millet by enjoying the delicacy in the Parliament with other party leaders.
PM Modi was seen having lunch with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, among others. The 'millet-only' lunch was hosted by Union Minister Narendra Tomar on Parliament premises.
"As we prepare to mark 2023 as the International Year of Millets, attended a sumptuous lunch in Parliament where millet dishes were served.
"Good to see participation from across party lines," the PM tweeted along with a series of pictures.
“We prepared delicacies including roti and sweets made out of jowar, bajra, and ragi for which chefs were specially brought in from Karnataka,” Minister of State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje told news agency ANI.
'International Year of Millets'
India's proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023 was approved by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 2018 and the United Nations General Assembly has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
This was adopted by a United Nations Resolution for which India took the lead and was supported by over 70 nations.
The main objective behind this initiative by the Indian government is to create awareness about the contribution of millets to food security and nutrition.
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What are millets?
Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small-seeded annual grasses that are cultivated as grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions.
Some of the common millets available in India are Ragi (Finger millet), Jowar (Sorghum), Sama (Little millet), Bajra (Pearl millet), and Variga (Proso millet).
PM Modi has even told MPs to work to promote millets. “As over 85 per cent of Indian farmers falling in the category of small farmers grow millets in large numbers, a rise in the consumption of these grains will help them financially,” he told BJP members, according to Union minister Pralhad Joshi.
