Make popularising millets 'jan andolan': PM Modi tells BJP lawmakers

Health benefits linked with millets and sports took centre stage in PM Modi's address at BJP parliamentary party meeting in Delhi

Good health associated with millets and sports took centre stage in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at the BJP parliamentary party meeting here on Tuesday as he asked MPs to promote them and even joined lawmakers for a special millet lunch.

Making millets, grown by most small farmers in the country, popular amounts to serving the country, Modi told BJP MPs, according to Union minister Pralhad Joshi who briefed reporters.

This should be made a "jan andolan" (people's movement), Joshi said while quoting the prime minister.

Prime Minister Modi noted that the UN has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets on his government's request as he called for making the bouquet of grains high on nutrition a popular choice of food for people.

With tens of thousands of foreign delegates expected to attend a large number of meetings associated with the G-20, now being chaired by India, Modi said millets will be on the menu.

Highlighting the high nutritional value of these grains, he said these can be used in anganwadis, schools, homes and government meetings as well.

Awareness about the grains could be spread by hosting debates in schools and colleges, Modi said and noted that food items whose high nutritional values are shared with people are also consumed more.

MPs can use millet items in meetings they host, he added.

As over 85 per cent of Indian farmers falling in the category of small farmers grow millets in large numbers, a rise in the consumption of these grains will help them financially, he noted.

Incidentally, the government hosted a lunch for all MPs on Tuesday in which food items prepared from millets were on the menu.

The prime minister tweeted, "As we prepare to mark 2023 as the International Year of Millets, attended a sumptuous lunch in Parliament where millet dishes were served. Good to see participation from across party lines."

He shared a picture where Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla were seated alongside him during the lunch.

The prime minister also asked MPs to promote sports meets with a special focus on Indian games like kabaddi. Hosting such events has been a BJP initiative in the last few years.

In the meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar gave a presentation on India's presidency of the G-20, a grouping of the world's major 20 economies, and how the MPs can contribute, with the country hosting a large number of events.