Peace and Development through Mid-Day Meals

Science has been a way of life. Using logic, it can explain an issue and provide tactical solutions. Science has led to innumerable discoveries in every field and continues to throw light on causes and consequences.

In the last few decades, we have all come to a conclusion that science helps us in understanding the past, the present and the future. For without science, development would have been difficult. This year, as we observe World Science Day for Peace and Development 2016 – established by United Nations to demonstrate the relevance of science, let us try to understand how science can be applied in building a better future for our children, especially from an NGO’s perspective.

World Science Day is celebrated annually on November 10 and it witnesses global participation from non-profit-organisations, governments, institutions, corporates and individuals. Celebrating this day helps us gain insights into the developments in the field of science. For Akshaya Patra, an NGO for children which supplies nutritious mid-day meals to schools, science has been a boon – innovation and technology have been the driving force to reach millions of children on every school day.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation began its mid-day meal operations with a vision – ‘No child should be deprived of education because of hunger.’ When this food for education initiative took off in the year 2000, the organisation provided mid-day meals to 1,500 children. But with the help of donors, government and advanced technology implemented in our kitchens, the reach has now increased to over 1.6 million children. This number proves the need of the programme.

The history of mid-day meal in India goes back to pre-independence era when Madras Corporation introduced free lunch programme in the year 1925 in Puducherry. In 1962, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu made it a mandate that all primary school children in the state must benefit from Mid-Day Meal Scheme. In 2001, the Supreme Court of India passed an order stating, "We direct the State Governments/Union Territories to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary School with a prepared mid-day meal."

The Mid-Day Meal Programme aims to address three important issues:

i. End classroom hunger

ii. Increase school enrolment

iii. Address malnutrition

Meals with a Motto

Through the years of many challenges and achievements, science has played an important role in transforming children’s lives through food for education. All of Akshaya Patra’s centralised kitchens are equipped with sustainable food processing machines and 304 grade stainless steel vessels which are finest for cooking and handling food. Even the delivery vans are optimized to maintain food temperature and they all follow GPRS to ensure on-time delivery of meals. Akshaya Patra, with support from the government, is able to reach over 1.6 million children in 11 states across India.

With 16 years of experience as a children’s NGO, we can doubtlessly say that ‘Science is a process in search of a better tomorrow.’ Through science and its developments, we will be able to build peace in the minds of children.

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Literacy Outshines Everything Else

UNESCO’s International Literacy Day is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and the banner says “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”. Clearly, the motto is to ensure that we learn from our past achievements and failures and carve a promising future in the quality of education and literacy rates.

When UNESCO had proclaimed September 8 as International Literacy Day 50 years ago, it had set out its focus on the eradication of illiteracy by mobilising various channels, organisations and communities. Today, it’s indeed a large community of like-minded individuals and organisations that are working together for facilitating education for children and adults. The day will also mark the awarding of International Literacy Prizes in order to honour people who have outstanding solutions towards achieving the 2030 Education Agenda. UNESCO has begun to implement the 2030 Education agenda for the illiteracy eradication that aims at “achieving literacy and numeracy to all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women.” At Akshaya Patra, we couldn’t be more excited than now since we work with the motto of “food for education” in order to reach out to the unreached children of India with food and education.

As UNESCO launches its new agenda on education, our government continues to work towards enhancing the quality of children’s education. Many studies report that in India many children do not attend school since they have to take care of domestic chores at home as their parents fetch bread and butter every day. However, it’s more worrying that a major portion of population does not think it necessary to pursue education.

The education system in India still suffers from high school drop-out rates. The data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) had revealed last year that 13 out of every 100 Indians between 5-29 years did not attend school or dropped out because they did not consider education necessary. As an NGO for children, Akshaya Patra encourages dialogue and interaction with decision makers within families of children and makes them aware about the importance of education. We do wish to eliminate one crucial factor of hunger that deprives children of education yet we recognise that our efforts need to go beyond this.

We realised that the proportion of kids who don’t attend school due to financial constraints or domestic chores was higher between 10-14 years. This was the same demographic that also considered education unnecessary. With our Mid-Day Meal Programme, we intended to uproot the above two major factors of dropping out. As a result, many parents were persuaded to send all their kids to school since they knew that the school was taking care of one of their meals. Many remote government schools noticed a dip in the school drop-out rate with visible change in the admissions. One such example is the Zilla Parishad School in T K Pura near Hyderabad, which today educates 103 students. The students became regular while the enrollment rate went up by 2%. 

How are we making a difference?

While we know that much needs to improve in the education system in India, we also believe that this system is capable enough to make children aware about the world and their surroundings apart from empowering them with literacy.

The year 2016 has been better for the government in terms of decreasing the number of school drop-outs. Many states have made progress towards this. A recent government report states that Odisha had made significant progress in reducing school dropout rates from 18.72% in 2012-13 to 6.02% in 2015-16. It’s extremely encouraging because we have been working in Odisha for many years as an NGO for children and providing mid-day meals in schools.

On International Literacy Day, you have the opportunity of joining the Education Agenda 2030 along with Akshaya Patra. We need more children and more adults who know how to read and write. Education is such a tool that can equip people to face any challenge in life while illiteracy often disrupts their progress.

You can make a difference too by a small charity donation. As we celebrate the completion of 2 billion meals, we strive to involve more people towards the cause of food for education.

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School Days Are Here Again!

Crisp school uniforms, new compass boxes, polished shoes and packed school bags – it is time to welcome these sights again, as rain-soaked days herald the start of a brand new school year. After the lulls of the summer vacations, going back to school is a bittersweet experience indeed. No longer is it possible to sleep late into the morning or play and watch one’s favourite television programmes all day. It is now back to the old familiar – school friends, classes, homework and the discipline of following a schedule throughout the day.

The reopening of schools also brings with it the most delightful hour in the bustle of school life – the lunch break. This is the most anticipated time of the day, as growling stomachs need to be silenced with a healthy, wholesome meal. Good nutrition is imperative to the physical, mental and emotional development of children. After all, who, be it adult or child, can think straight with hunger clawing at their gut? Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO for children that provides mid-day meals to 1.4 million kids across India, ensures that not only do children go back to school, but they stay there too.

In a country like India where hunger and malnutrition cripples the educational performance of children and even leads them to desist from the pursuit of education, it is imperative that an incentive like free mid-day meals be implemented. Education is the magic spell that needs to be cast for empowering children and this can only be done if, like their privileged counterparts, the socioeconomically underprivileged too have a full stomach.

Don’t let food be a mere thought for a child.

Your contribution could help keep a kid in school. Donate to NGO now!

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