A Bellyful of Benefit

We’re living in an age where education is power. It is the power to be informed, make decisions, earn money and take control of your life. The Akshaya Patra Foundation believes that no child should be deprived of an education because of hunger, and so started its mid-day meal programme to allow children to study on a full belly and one day, gain that power.

Aside from the obvious goal of eliminating hunger to ensure that children can study in peace, the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal programme has also had significant impact on the lives of children in other ways too.

Back to School! – For many students, the mid-day meal is their only meal of the day. This has provided a massive incentive for parents to send their children to school and ease their financial burden, thereby increasing school enrolment rates. The delicious menus complete with regional delicacies also keep the children excited about going to school, helping to improve and regularize attendance in government schools.

Getting it right – By getting all their vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, energy and fats in the enjoyable mid-day meals, students have also started to show higher levels of concentration and retention, helping them do much better in school than earlier.

Breaking down Barriers! – Serving these mid-day meals in schools has helped children overcome their inhibitions in dealing with each other. They have formed friendships, developed unity, and looked beyond differentiating factors like religion and caste, creating a sense of equality between them.

Girl Power! – Women have been employed in different capacities of the operation process such as cooks and helpers etc. after the Akshaya Patra mid-day meals were introduced. This has brought additional income into the household, given them a boost in self-esteem and social standing and also served as a role model to young girls in school to work hard and become independent women themselves.

The Akshaya Patra Organisation has achieved multiple goals through its mid-day meal programme with far-reaching impact. And through its initiative has shown how something as simple as providing one simple meal to a child can change his life around. The hope remains that by providing a billion meals, the fate of a whole nation can be served.

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