Govt to make law on fortification of staple food, says minister

LAHORE
Punjab Minister for Labour and Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar has said the government will bring legislative reforms for mandatory fortification of staple food in the country as approximately 2-3 percent of GDP is lost every year due to a growing unskilled, economically unproductive population resulting in impairment of cognitive development caused by micro-nutrient deficiencies.
He was addressing an advocacy workshop organised by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and National Fortification Alliance (NFA). The purpose of the workshop was to generate awareness among legislators about food fortification. Around 20 parliamentarians, representatives of UN agencies and development partners attended the workshop. Raja Ashfaq Sarwar stressed upon the need to improve the access of nutritious food for each and every person as food fortification is globally recognised a strategy to address deficiency of micro-nutrition in the daily food to strive and thrive. Sajjad Imran, Country Manager GAIN, said, "We have high levels of malnutrition in the country for decades and gradually the nutrition status is getting worse. The results of the 2011 National Nutrition Survey revealed an alarming situation of malnutrition in the country." He highlighted their role in providing technical support in bringing legislative reforms in Pakistan on food fortifications. Chairman Youth Caucus of Punjab Assembly Sardar Vickas Hassan Mokal said, "We would appreciate the technical support by development partners in bringing legislative reforms to strengthen food fortification. The parliamentarians of Punjab are committed to ensuring the access of essential vitamins and minerals to our population through food fortification as these necessary vitamins and minerals could change the quality of their life and children who would perform even better with improved cognitive development."
Dr. Baseer Khan Achakzai, Secretary National Fortification Alliance from Ministry of National Health Services, Coordination and Regulation along with Project Manager GAIN Munawar Hussain also addressed. Members Parliament including Saira Iftikhar, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, Zeb un Nisa Awan, Dr. Aliya Aftab, Tehseen Fawad, Farzana Nazir, Nabeela Ali Khan, Farukh Manzoor and Member Standing Committee Azhar Khan Jadoon attended the workshop.
Tevta: Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) has established a display and sales centre which will exhibit quality training and students’ skills being imparted at service centres.
It was stated by Tevta Chairperson Irfan Qaiser Sheikh while addressing a meeting regarding the display and sales centre at Tevta secretariat, according to a press release issued on Monday. Chief Operating Officer Jawad Ahmed Qureshi, Tevta Officers Akhter Abbas Bharwana, Abdul Qayyum, Engr. Azhar Iqbal Shad, Haroon Naseer, Mustafa Kamal Pasha, Muhammad Usman Ali, Ayesha Qazi, Sarfraz Anwar, Amir Hasan, Maqsood Ahmed and other officers were present.
Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said Tevta service centres are the integral part of the efforts to facilitate and support the industry for the value addition of their products. These centres located all over the Punjab are the catalyst of technology transfer with ultimate aim to up lift the technological level of the targeted sectors-metal, leather, Ceramics, agriculture, textile and wood. To realise the importance and role of these centres for the relevant industrial cluster, one has to have a very clear understanding about the functions and operations performed over there.
He said the centres are mainly disintegrated into three components vis-à-vis specialized training, common facility services (CFS) and advisory services. It is worth mentioning here that all these functions are performed simultaneously under one roof on a larger scale. As far as the visualising the concept of CFS, it is the tool with which the local industry gets acquainted with the latest technology on the already installed machinery/equipment of these centres resulting in value addition to their products. In addition to CFS and specialised training, the centres technical experts facilitate the local industry through providing technical opinion/guidance for the improvement in the quality of their product.
Drive: Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) has geared up its anti-dengue activities, specifically focusing city’s educational institutions and residential and commercial localities. A drive was carried out in the dense and historic locality of Nisbat Road, Gawalmandi. The campaign comprised an awareness walk, setting up of camps, distribution of pamphlets, registration and resolving of waste related complaints etc.