NEW DELHI: Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, presented the awards to Sikkim and Manipur for the improvement they have made in the fourth edition of ‘State Food Safety Index’. Tamil Nadu was on top amongst the larger states, Gujarat got the second position, followed by Maharashtra. While among the smaller states, Goa secured the first position, followed by Manipur and Sikkim. Among union territories, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh are the top three achievers.
Dr Tekendra Rai, Principal Director of Health Services, received the award on behalf of the Government of Sikkim. Sikkim and Manipur have made significant improvements under several parameters of the index.
State Food Safety Index measures the performance of states based on five parameters – Human Resource and Institutional Data, Compliance, Food Testing Infrastructure and Surveillance, Training and Capacity Building and lastly Consumer Empowerment.
Additionally, Mandaviya also facilitated 11 winners of the Eat Smart Challenge, which was launched by FSSAI in collaboration with the Smart Cities Mission, under the supervision of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India. Several other initiatives of FSSAI were also launched by the Minister such as phase II of Eat Right Research Awards and Grants, Phase III of Eat Right Creativity Challenge, competition at the school-level competition and the logo for Ayurveda Ahar.