Millet Mela held at Namchi

NAMCHI, (IPR): The Food and Drugs Administration of Namchi district organised an Eat Right Millet Mela (ERMM) at the auditorium of Bal Krishna Kasaju Senior Secondary School, Namthang, today.

The chief guest for the occasion was Additional Political Secretary (Namchi) Kabita Sapkota. Also present amongst others were Medical Officer TB Centre Dr. Pratik Rasaily, BDO (Namthang) Yogen Syangden, CDPO (Namchi) Laxman Tamang, principal Udshoni Khatiwara, Health educator (Namthang, PHC) Sonam Doma Lepcha, Technical Officer (Namthang, PHC) N. B. Subba alongside panchayats, ASHA, AWW Workers, staff and students.

Addressing the gathering, the chief guest spoke in brief about the programme, which aims to promote the inclusion of millet in daily meals to keep lifestyle diseases at bay. She added that such events will create awareness about safe food practices and creation of a food ecosystem, particularly about millet as a healthy and nutritious food option.

Speaking during the programme, resource person Tshering Gyatsho Lepcha, an organic and progressive farmer from Dzongu, shared his experience as a millet grower and how throughout the years, he has successfully preserved various types of indigenous millet crops of Sikkim. He pointed out the different local dishes made from millet and underlined its health benefits. Highlighting the unique benefits of millet, he updated that local farmers are shifting to millet cultivation and also said that the stakeholders are creating an ideal market system to enable the farmers to sell millets and its produce. With this note, he urged the attendees to buy the authentic millet produced from Sikkim.

During the course of the programme, the chief guest also visited an exhibition showcasing different types of millets, their nutritional value, value-added products made from millet and how they can be incorporated into everyday meals.

The programme also saw distribution of certificates to the students for participating in the various categories of millet based competitions.