Vadodara District Panchayat Celebrates Millets Mela and Nutrition Month

“75 schools participate in the Millets Mela to promote the regular use of coarse grains in diets.”

Embracing PM Modi’s proposal and in line with the United Nations’ declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Coarse Grains, India is celebrating this year as the Year of Millets. Concurrently, in honor of Nutrition Month, the Vadodara District Panchayat’s Ayurveda Branch has organized 75 Millets Fairs in Vadodara city and district to raise awareness about the benefits of including millets, particularly in daily diets. As part of this initiative, Urmi School in Vadodara hosted a Millets recipe competition where students showcased their culinary creativity with millets.

Dr. Sudhir Joshi, the Ayurveda Officer of Vadodara District Panchayat Ayurveda Branch, highlighted the significance of millets during the event. The Millets Mela, which kicked off at Urmi School, has been organized in 75 schools under his guidance.

Students from classes 9 to 11 enthusiastically prepared and presented a wide array of dishes made from coarse grains such as bajri, sorghum, kang, nagli (ragi), samo (moraio), kodo, and rajgara. The students’ culinary innovations resulted in over 100 delightful millet-based dishes.

A panel consisting of the school’s principal and teachers had the delightful task of tasting the students’ creations. After careful evaluation, they selected the three most delectable dishes from both groups.

The District Ayurveda Officer and the school’s principal jointly announced the names of the winning students, emphasizing the nutritional superiority of coarse grains over wheat and encouraging the use of these healthy alternatives for a stronger, healthier India.