Odisha’s First Millet Shakti Café to Be Opened in Keonjhar Soon

Keonjhar: The Keonjhar district administration, which has already received national-level recognition for successfully implementing the Millet Mission to revive millets in farms and on plates, is taking a unique initiative to take the mission a step further. The administration is soon opening an exclusive millet café to be known as Millet Shakti Café involving women self-help groups for large scale promotion and consumption of millets in the district.

This has been announced by Keonjhar Collector Ashish Thakare on the occasion of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s 75th birthday on Saturday.

“On the occasion of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik’s birthday, Keonjhar District administration is pleased to announce that an exclusive Millet Shakti Café supported by DMF Keonjhar will be opened in Collectorate, Keonjhar shortly”, Thakare informed through his Twitter handle.

The Millet Shakti Café (Quick Service Restaurant) will be set up as a joint venture between the Odisha Millets Mission and Mission Shakti Department. It will be run by the women self-help groups (WSHGs) of Mission Shakti.

More than 10 millets-based hot cooked items, over 10 dry and bakery items, millet drinks, packaged millet grains and ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products will be sold at the outlet.

Complementary items like coffee, tea, chocolates will be served to make it an attractive spot for the young audience. Packaged millet grains, ready to eat and ready to cook products supplied by processing units or FPOs supported by Odisha Millets Mission will also be available at the Quick Service Restaurant.

Millets are an integral part of tribal life and a staple diet of tribals of Odisha since time immemorial. Millets are grown mostly in rain deficit areas by the small and marginal farmers. On the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the State Government has stepped up its efforts to revive this forgotten and neglected crop under Odisha Millets Mission.

The Odisha Millets Mission has played an instrumental role in easing constraints of millet growers by incentivizing investments into soil health, quality seed, improved agronomic practices, drudgery reduction, mechanization and providing price guarantee through procurement by state agencies and exploration of remunerative markets.

With the support of the enterprising spirit of Mission Shakti self-help groups, the millet grains and products are now available at affordable rates to the common man.

Through successful interventions on multiple fronts, the programme won accolades from the Government of India which recommended other states to follow the Odisha model.

Odisha Millets Mission was started in Keonjhar district in 2019. Under the five-year programme, mining affected villages of 7 blocks in the districts – Banspal, Champua, Joda, Jhumpura, Harichandanpur, Hatadihi and Sadar – were taken up for mandia cultivation.

More than 4000 farmers have benefitted under various components of the programme. Moreover, after the launch of Ragi procurement at MSP farmers are getting an assured price for Ragi which has boosted the morale of the farmers who often fear losses from paddy cultivation.

The Government of India and Niti Aayog have recognized the initiatives of Keonjhar District administration with the support of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) regarding inclusion of Ragi Laddus as morning snacks for pre-school children enrolled under ICDS in the district.

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