Team Herald
PANJIM: The Government of India on Wednesday declared Panjim among the top 11 cities as winners of the Eat Smart Cities Challenge initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
This essentially means that these cities are eating right and transforming their food eating habits as per prescribed safety standards.
The challenge was launched by MoHUA in collaboration with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on April 15 last year to scale
up the Eat Right India approach to the city level. The main objective of this initiative is to develop healthy eating habits among the people.
Linked with the Smart City Mission, this movement is expected to enable the urban population to make the right food choices and help build a “healthier and happier nation”.
The winning cities for the pilot phase of this programme were announced in a virtual event chaired by MoHUA Secretary, Manoj Joshi in the presence of CEO FSSAI, Arun Singhal.
Joshi said, “With the efforts of these 11 cities, we hope to start a movement that inspires all cities to transform their food systems and strengthen the food safety and regulatory environment and make better food choices in India’s cities.”
He added that local bodies are being involved in this healthy eating concept as it has to be implemented on the ground.
“We should look beyond regulatory aspects as consumers should get tasty, healthy food at an affordable price. We also need to ensure serving good and safe food in the official meetings, and in the canteens of offices, schools and colleges,” he added.
The challenge is envisioned as a competition among cities to recognise their efforts in adopting and scaling up various initiatives under Eat Right India by strengthening the food safety and regulatory environment, building awareness among the consumers and urging them to make better food choices in India’s smart cities.
The participants at the event included global and Indian officials from partner organisations that had supported the challenge including evaluation committee experts from Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), The Food Foundation, UK; representatives from winning cities, officials from Central and State Governments, including Municipal Commissioners and CEOs of 100 Smart Cities.
Apart from Panjim, the other winners were Chandigarh, Indore, Jammu, Jabalpur, Rajkot, Rourkela, Sagar, Surat, Tumakuru and Ujjain.