MILLETS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Agriculture)

Context: The government should provide an option to beneficiaries of various public distribution schemes to bundle millets along with wheat and rice within their entitled quantity, noted in a report by a Parliament Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs, and Public Distribution.

• Furthermore, the Centre should explore the possibility of distributing millets in addition to rice and wheat under the public distribution programme and other welfare initiatives such as Integrated Child Development Services and Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman. 
• The report also highlights that procurement of coarse cereals, including jowar, bajra, ragi, and maize (both millets and non-millets), has seen a ninefold increase between 2016-17 and FY23.