Swasth Bharat Yatra, a high visibility, high impact 18000+ km Relay Cycle Rally across 6 tracks over 100 days to build awareness
Cycle rallies, mobile testing units and prabhat Pheris (morning rounds) – In a bid to promote healthy eating habits, the country’s apex food standards regulatory agency is embarking on a massive mobilisation drive.
The showcase event of the drive is a Swasth Bharat Yatra, a high visibility, high impact 18000+ km Relay Cycle Rally travelling across 6 tracks through almost every State and UT over 100 days. The rally will propagate a powerful message – “Eat Right India.”
This is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of leveraging the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to bring about social change.
Food adulteration is a highly under documented problem in India even though earlier this year the FSSAI did make an attempt to bring in a stringent law against the problem
Food adulteration is a highly under documented problem in India even though earlier this year the FSSAI did make an attempt to bring in a stringent law against the problem. The proposed law says: “Any person…adds an adulterant to food so as to render it injurious for human consumption with an inherent potential to cause his death or is likely to cause grievous hurt, irrespective of the fact whether it causes actual injury or not, shall be punishable for a term which shall not be less than 7 years but which may extend to imprisonment for life and also fine which shall not be less than Rs 10 lakh.”
From 16th October 2018 (World Food Day) to 27th January 2019, on every single day, 150 volunteer-cyclists and a convoy including the ‘Eat Right Mobile Unit’ and “Mobile Food Testing Unit” would travel across the country.
The aim is to build awareness around food safety, combating food adulteration and healthy diets. In all, over 7500 volunteer cyclists would stop at 2000+ locations and conduct in-city and en-route activities and ‘Prabhat Pheris’ to propagate the message of Eat Right India.
The Swastha Bharat Yatra will be formally launched from on Tuesday afternoon at the 5th floor Conference Hall at FDA Bhawan, Kotla Road. Officials at FSSAI described the move as a “much needed effort to engage, excite and enable our citizens to eat right and bring alive Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a healthier and happier India.”
