Tamil Nadu has bagged the Best State Award for its active participation in the Swasth Bharat Yatra, a pan-India cyclothon aimed at promoting the concept of ‘eating right for a healthy life’.
Madurai and Sivakasi won the awards for the best performing districts, while the State also bagged 17 awards in various other categories.
Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar received the award from Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Tuesday. Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan was present on the occasion.
The State also received awards in six special categories, for six organisations and for the best cyclist, Menakadevi of Salem. Under the ‘eat right creativity challenge’, three schools were awarded in the poster competition and one in the wall art competition.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India had organised the Swasth Bharat Yatra, a key element of the ‘Eat Right India Movement’, to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi from October 2018 to January 2019. The objective was to promote the message of ‘Eat Healthy’ to prevent non-communicable diseases, ‘Eat Safe’ to prevent food-borne diseases and ‘Eat Fortified’ to prevent micro-nutrient deficiencies.
During the rally, cyclists visited villages, towns and cities across the country to spread awareness. Two of the six teams visited various districts in Tamil Nadu. They camped in each district for three days and organised awareness programmes.
The Tamil Nadu Food Safety Department made the arrangements to organise the events to create awareness.
