Importance of childhood nutrition

‘Nutrition’ has been a never-ending topic of discussion among mothers, paediatricians, and dieticians, and of lately, has seeped into the conversations of the health-conscious generation too. It may appear overrated or it may sound cliched, but the fact is nutrition indeed is a vital aspect of a healthy life and deserves conscious and considerable attention; especially during the growth years of children.

Importance of nutrition during formative years

Childhood is the most eventful of all developmental stages - be it physical, cognitive, social, emotional, or language and communication – children are the most active learners during this phase. However, children must be provided with adequate nourishment for them to achieve various developmental milestones age-appropriately. A balanced nutritious diet comprising of the right amount of essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, vitamins and minerals become vital for proper growth and development of children. Heeding to this NGOs like The Akshaya Patra Foundation have taken up food and nutrition as their core cause. Akshaya Patra is an NGO that implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme and has been providing nutritious meals to children of government schools and government-aided schools since 2000.

Benefits of good nutrition

There are several advantages of good nutrition for children. Here is a handful of them:

• Proper nutrition supports age-appropriate growth and development in children;
• It improves the immunity level in children thereby keeping infections and diseases at bay;
• It enhances cognitive functioning, level of activeness, social connections and interest to learn and explore different activities;
• Better-nourished children are more active at school and perform well in their academics and other school activities.
• Under-nourishment leads to low immunity, a decrease in activity levels, social interactions, urge to learn, and cognitive functioning, and poor academic performance. It also has an adverse effect on the child’s physical and emotional development.

Role of mid-day meal in nourishing children

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is a government initiative to provide healthy and nutritious meals to children of government schools and government-aided schools. The children of these schools hail from not-so-privileged socio-economic backgrounds and for them, the mid-day meal becomes the only source of nutrition, and many times it is the only proper meal they get for the entire day. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is aimed to counter classroom hunger, address malnutrition, increase school enrolment, increase school attendance, and improve socialisation among children belonging to different castes. Favourably, several studies report a positive impact of the mid-day meal on all the mentioned aspects. So, that the mid-day meal and its nutritious value benefit more children, Akshaya Patra is strategically and sustainably expanded its reach across the country.

Gift a nourished childhood

A well-nourished child grows up to be a healthy and confident adult, something that is important not only at a personal level but also at a societal level. Imagine there are 100 children in your neighbourhood and 80 of them are under-nourished. Do you think they will be interested in anything else apart from getting some food? Do you think they will grow up to be resourceful? Unfortunately, not. Hence, it is the responsibility of the ‘haves’ to take care of the ‘have-nots’ so that the latter is empowered enough to become self-dependent and resourceful. By supporting Akshaya Patra you can ensure healthy and wholesome food for millions of children. Choose to offer a donation for children because every child deserves the right to nutritious food and the right to attend school.

Different ways of getting tax exemption

No matter how much we earn, we all look for ways to save tax. And, as the income tax filing date nears, we try to dig into papers that can save our hard-earned money. Well, instead of stressing up yourself at the last minute, invest your money wisely in schemes that can avail you tax exemptions with ease.

Here is a list that can help you to save tax on your salary:

• House Rent – The Government of India allows exemption of tax for house rents under Section 80GG. House rent is an unavoidable expense that has to be borne by an employee, especially outstation employee, who relocates to different cities to fulfil the demands of their jobs. The eligibility of exemption depends upon certain criterions and the employee has to furnish rent receipts during income tax filing.

• Children Education Allowance – This allowance qualifies a salaried person to avail tax benefits for expenditure pertaining to school fees, hostel fees and similar education-related expenses of their children. This benefit can be availed for up to two children only.

• Housing Loan – A home loan comes with a specific interest rate. Hence, if a salaried person has taken a home loan then he can furnish the required papers to get a tax exemption on the interest amount.

• Donations: Contributing donations to a registered NGO or a charitable trust can exempt you from paying taxes on the donated amount under Section 80G. The donor can either claim for 100% or 50% exemption on the donated amount based upon the receiver and the criterions set by the Income Tax Act.

• Medical Insurance – Under Section 80D, one can claim for exemption on the medical insurance policy. It is applicable to the policyholder and the dependent members too. It is a good opportunity to save tax while remaining secured for any kind of health emergency.

As it is evident that making an investment is a good way to save tax, and, even better if this can bring about a positive change in the society. Offering charity to a not-for-profit can create a win-win situation for the donor and the society. One such NGO is The Akshaya Patra Foundation that provides school lunch to more than 1.6 million government school children on every school day. The Foundation operates its kitchens in 34 locations in 12 states of India. It strives to provide unlimited food for education so that ‘No child in India is deprived of education because of hunger.’ While sustaining its service for the current beneficiaries, the Foundation aims to expand its reach to more locations so that more children can be nourished from its Mid-Day Meal Programme. Akshaya Patra is a recognised charitable trust eligible to offer tax exemptions to its donors as per Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. The Foundation directs all the funds towards providing wholesome meals to children so that they grow up to be healthy, educated, and responsible assets for the country. Thus, by choosing to contribute online donations for NGO, you are not only saving tax on your income but also securing the lives of young children.

So, take a stand and support the cause that will provide for the less-privileged, foster hope, and constructively enrich our society.

Disclaimer: Each of the above-mentioned tax exemption plans has its own terms and conditions. Hence, it is advised to understand the respective tax exemption clauses prior to making an investment or a claim.

What Role NGOs Play in India and How Akshaya Patra is Contributing?

There are people like Sachin Tendulkar and Priyanka Chopra that have made the world notice our talent, on the other hand there are some who are trying to bring a positive change in Indian society by working and impacting at the grass root level. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one such non-government organisation that’s playing the role of nutrition missionary in India since 2000 to eradicate undernourishment among kids and ensure that no child opts out of school because of hunger.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is truly demonstrating the role of an NGO committed to helping the cause of food and education in India. The noble acts of making donations in someone’s memory or doing charity fundraising for the needy are helping millions of children come to school every day. Know how-

1. Better living conditions for all

So many children in India have to do menial jobs at the age when they are supposed to attend school to earn meals for the day. The people in need are helpless and the capable ones cannot always manage to directly reach out and help. Here’s when an NGO’s role in India comes into play. The NGOs act as a connecting medium between needy and facilitators. Akshaya Patra, with the help of donations received by donors in memory of near and dear ones, has been able to serve over 1.6 million children in 13,808 schools across 12 states in India. In a way, this NGO is contributing and letting us contribute in providing better living conditions for all the underprivileged people of India.

2. Educated India equals better India

Most of the challenges that India is facing as a country can be dealt well by educating the uneducated masses in every remote corner of the country. Opening schools in all the villages is not the only solution because there are problems like classroom hunger too, that can prevent children from coming to school. In order to combat this problem, the role of NGOs like Akshaya Patra becomes crucial. By providing wholesome mid-day meals as an incentive, this organisation has been able to encourage students to attend classes and motivate them to achieve success in life. We may have no clue but doing some charity fundraising or donating in memory of beloved’s can be a gift of hope to someone in need.

3. Better reasons to be known for

Issues like poverty, illiteracy, slow progress, etc., sometimes overshadow all the goodness that India can be known for. Several NGOs in India are playing their role to fight such problems. They are striving hard to let India be known only for its growth and prosperity. Undernourishment among children is one of the major issues in India, against which, Akshaya Patra has missioned itself. This NGO aims to eradicate hunger which has proved to be an obstacle to learning. When the present is improved, the future can be better. And if a small help from our side can make any good impact, why not do it?

So let’s come together as a nation and involve ourselves in better causes. There’s no greater joy than giving someone a ray of hope. You may simply do some charity fundraising for the cause. Help a child today!

L&T Infotech Teams Up With Akshaya Patra Foundation For Promoting Literacy.

L&T Infotech has teamed up with Akshaya Patra Foundation for supporting a noble cause for promoting literacy. The alliance aims to educate 10,000 children studying in 35 government schools in and around this city.

As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by L&T Infotech, the company has proposed to sponsor mid-day meals of these children and provide a conveyance to bring the cooked food to the schools in a timely manner.

“The primary objective of this alliance is to encourage high school attendance, surge national literacy rates, decrease dropout rates and also to ensure that the children are well-nourished,” said Shridhar Venkat, CEO of Akshaya Patra. Further to this, the companies have signed an official memorandum of understanding (MOU) towards fulfilling the initiative. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO which runs the Mid-Day Meal Programme for Government and Government-aided school children.

An Akshaya Patra and Vasudev Adiga’s Initiative to Provide a Million Meals for Children

VasudevAdiga’s, a popular chain of restaurants in Karnataka, has committed to raise funds to support The Akshaya Patra, an NGO which serves mid day meals to government school children in India. VasudevAdiga’s aims to fund one million meals in collaboration with its customers, partners and employees.