Supporting Education through Mid-Day Meals

Many children in India (belonging to low-income families) find themselves thrown into the real-world battles quite early in life. In a country where Right to Education is a law, as many as 126,66,377 children work in various sectors only to earn their meal for the day.  Yet, a change has been brewing steadily where children today are opting education over work. 

Every Child Must be Educated

Earlier, many families considered a child to be an additional resource to fetch income to feed the family and to feed the children. This has considerably changed over the years. Thanks to the initiatives and schemes by the Government of India, many children are now encouraged to attend school. Additionally, when the children started to benefit from mid-day meal schemes in schools, they started bringing along their siblings which solved the problem of most parents. 

The Changes over the Years

The 1998 National Census of India estimated the total number of children workers, aged 4–15, to be at 12.6 million, out of a total child population of 253 million in 5–14 age group. The 2011 National Census of India found the total number of working children, aged 5–14, to be at 4.35 million, and the total child population to be 259.64 million in that age group. So yes, the numbers have declined but the problem of putting children to school remains to be solved.

A National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987 and ever since, the government has tried to ensure children attend school. One of the more remarkable steps of the government has been the enactment of ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act' or Right to Education Act also known as RTE. It was enacted on August 4 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. In addition, the government set off to accelerate the various policies about children’s education in its existing system.

One such step was the launching of Mid-Day Meal Scheme in 2004. This scheme has seen several reforms over the years with a view to include all of government schools in the system. The primary objective of Mid-Day Meal Programme is to feed one wholesome meal to children in order to encourage them to come to school. The government has tied up with organisations such as The Akshaya Patra Foundation in order to implement MDMS efficiently in schools to reach out to as many children as possible. Akshaya Patra, a children’s NGO began its school lunch programme in the year 2000 in Bengaluru.

Benefits of Mid-Day Meal Programme 

Children are now encouraged to attend school and this has so far proved to be a win-win for parents belonging to economically weaker sections. The parents are now realising that they can feed the children by relying on school lunch programmes. The Mid Day Meal Scheme has benefitted the children in more ways than one. Properly-fed children feel more motivated to work hard on their academics, experience an overall physical and mental growth and understand the importance of having ambitions for future.

Akshaya Patra reaches out to over 1.6 million children in 26 locations across 11 states of India, providing them with freshly cooked meals on all school days. A major portion of our resources comes from charity donations offered by generous donors across India. Several donors around the world help Akshaya Patra in various kinds of donations to feed the children - such as sponsoring a kitchen equipment or sponsoring a school for a year or donating a vehicle or through online and offline campaigning. It engages people to actively participate in charity donations so as to inspire several others.

The impact on the lives of the children has been tremendous ever since the organisation has implemented its Mid-Day Meal Programme. There are stories of hope where children have been benefitted for real in the mission of Food for Education. You can be part of this amazing cause of encouraging children to attend school. Sponsor a child today!

10 Ingredients that make Mid-Day Meal a Healthy Eat!

The 21st century has made us more food conscious than ever. We take interest in understanding the importance of healthy food, nutrition intake, and calories and so on. To simplify the food theories, we have even created food pyramids and graphs based on age groups. Today, we all know what kind of food is acceptable for children and what isn’t.

As an NGO, Akshaya Patra aims to feed the children the right amount of mid-day meals with sufficient nutritional values. We believe mid-day meal benefits every child. Before we share our little secret on keeping children healthy, here’s a bit of history on Nutrition. The word ‘Nutrition’ means ‘nourishment’ and first originated in Latin during early 15th century. Centuries later, when hunger was identified as an issue, a prefix Mal which means ‘bad’ was used to describe poor nutritional levels – malnutrition.

For Akshaya Patra, it is important that children receive the right amount of nutrients in their food. Here’s a list of ingredients used in mid-day meals along with their nutrition value:

To break the cycle of hunger among children, a country must do a lot – introduce nutritional school lunch programmes, ensure initiatives are reaching the target group, prioritise education, stabilise low-income families with subsidies and health care benefits, and many more. Akshaya Patra’s menu of mid-day meals is such that it covers the basics of nutrition intake and calories, making it one of the best diets for children!

Besides clothing and shelter, food is one of the basic needs for humans. We have reached a point in time where most of us are able to afford these basic needs however, lack of food among children continues to be a persistent issue. Let’s act to ensure children receive the two most important elements that can help them grow – food and education. Sponsor a child by donating Rs 950 and be assured that he or she will receive wholesome mid-day meals for an entire academic year!

Are Mid-Day Meals Playing a Role in a Student's Academics?

In the last five decades, literacy has evolved and shaped India in many facets - be it industrialisation, per capita or even the standard of living, literacy takes the credit. When you examine the literacy graph of India and compare numbers, the gradual developments bring a smile – thanks to the government benefits and donations for education in India. While there are many factors that play a role in achieving 100% literacy rate, a children’s NGO, Akshaya Patra, is focusing on enabling a student’s academic performance through food for education initiative – the Mid-Day Meal Programme.

Implemented in 2000, Akshaya Patra’s Mid-Day Meal Programme (food for education initiative) is now the world’s largest NGO-run feeding initiative based out of Bengaluru in Karnataka. Every day, over 1.6 million children are benefitted through this programme which prepares and delivers fresh-nutritious food to 13,260 schools at lunch time. 

Here’s a quick look at two main factors that affect a student’s academic performance:

Learning facilities and environment: It’s rather difficult to expect a child to learn in a classroom without sufficient study materials (text books, notepads, pen, and etcetera) and grasp lessons. It’s more problematic if the school is set up in a noisy surrounding and the exchange between teacher and students is put to a stop. While the government is making continuous efforts to provide provisions to children and build better infrastructure, many NGOs, with the help of education donations, have sprung to lend help to the government in ensuring children excel in their academics.

Socio-economic status: In many scholarly articles and research studies, it has been proved over and again that the socio-economic status of a family is an integral criterion for student’s performance – this includes the family members’ occupation and revenue which defines the economic condition. Akshaya Patra enables many families by providing a resource to their children – mid-day meals – which in turn lessens the strain of feeding a stomach in the house. To ensure the child does not have to bear the responsibilities of earning, the Foundation through its programme encourages every child to attend school and also be assured to eat healthy meals.

Why are Mid-Day Meals a boon to children?

It is a resource that stabilises education.  But along with it come nutrition, good health and well-being, academic achievement and quality performance. Akshaya Patra, with its dynamic initiative to provide food for education, has reached the milestone of serving more than 2 billion meals in the last 16 years. This milestone is a greater encouragement for the Foundation to continue its mission. 

Yes, mid-day meals are a boon to children and for the nation. Here’s why:

- More children enrol in schools

- Promotes socialisation among children

- Reduces classroom hunger

- Enhances a student’s performance (academic, sports and cultural)

A quick thought for the mind: Post-independence, India faced many challenges in the field of Growth and Development. However, through numerous benefit schemes and opportunities, we as nation, are witnessing change in every field. Akshaya Patra’s initiative too intends change. 

We believe every child deserves a fair chance and there is nothing more important than imparting education. Donate for education in India by joining Akshaya Patra in making every school a model of literacy development.

Celebrating Daan Utsav 2016

Daan Utsav – Joy of Giving Week 2016 is here! This week-long event brings many individuals a step closer to donate to charity and helps in making a difference in society. Through noble acts of giving, India’s biggest philanthropic festival inculcates kindness among all of us.

There’s a lot we can do to witness change and we believe change begins with you. Joy of Giving Week is one such platform that gives you opportunities to donate, make a difference and take with you a lasting pride of having contributed to society. Happiness is, after all, an act of giving.

About Akshaya Patra

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a Bengaluru-based children’s NGO, spreads joy with every meal served. After implementing its Mid-Day Meal Programme in 2000, the organisation’s beneficiary base has increased from 1,500 children to over 1.6 million children. In the last 16 years of its compassionate journey, Akshaya Patra has transformed the lives of many school children. This Daan Utsav, Akshaya Patra pledges to spread happiness with every meal. Help us enable more children to attend school – join us on the mission to feed 5 million children by 2020!

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Every day is a fresh start for school children and teachers. Their days are packed with classes, lessons, assignments, tests, physical activities and so on. A break during the day is where Akshaya Patra comes in – serving nutritious mid-day meals to these enthusiastic children who fearlessly dream of their future. Mid-day meals bring joy.

While India celebrates Joy of Giving week, read these testimonials by Akshaya Patra’s beneficiaries – every testimonial is an assurance that Mid-Day Meal Programme is indeed a boon for children.

“Joining the army will bring me a sense of pride. To fight for the country is the duty of every citizen in India. My dream started with my History lessons, where I was inspired by the many freedom fighters during India’s war for Independence. Many have fought for this country. Why can’t I do the same? I feel I am indebted to my country and I would like to serve my nation as an army officer. I love Akshaya Patra food for it gives me strength.”

- Darshan, Karnataka

“I enjoy the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal on all days but my favourite is Wednesdays and Saturdays. We get pulao, khichdi and kheer, which are my favourites. At home, my mother doesn’t cook these delicacies because we can’t afford it. When I grow up, I want to become an actress and act in Assamese movies. Someday, I want to travel the world with my family.”

- Pithali, Assam

“The mid-day meal has been a great relief for the parents. They feel that the children will at least get a nutritious meal if they attend school. Though the menu changes every day, the students look forward to eating dal-chawal, dal-dhokli, khichdi and sukhdi served by The Akshaya Patra Foundation. The children are able to enjoy the teaching process, since they are more attentive in class. They actively take part in various inter school sports activities too. The Mid-Day Meal Programme has positively impacted the children’s health in school.”

- Reshmi Patel, Teacher, Gujarat

Read all the stories at our website: Joy of Giving Week

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India’s biggest philanthropic event ends in a few days. Let’s take this opportunity to make a difference by donating to charity. Get involved in a cause today.

Your Contribution to an NGO can make Uttar Pradesh Hunger-Free

There are several parts of India that battle with challenges of nutrition, sanitation, electricity, education and the likes. But nutrition tops them all since lack of it can be life-threatening. India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh is home to over 1,210 million people. Now imagine the volume of work and the challenges the state government has to handle every single day.

Considering the situation in UP, children’s NGO in Lucknow, Akshaya Patra comes as a saviour to root out the problem of child hunger.  With 26 kitchens pan India, it has set itself out on a mission to provide children “Food for Education” with the help of its programme to deliver mid-day meals in Uttar Pradesh. 

The organisation aims at reaching out underfed children along with bringing them to classrooms. Non-profit organisation Akshaya Patra has its two locations with state-of-the-art centralised kitchens to provide mid-day meal in Uttar Pradesh - one in Lucknow and the other in Vrindavan. And today, we feed 2,32,615 children across 3,021 schools throughout UP. Akshaya Patra’s NGO in Lucknow, which was established in March 2015, satisfies the nutritional needs of 1,00,459 children across 1,011 schools. 

But to make the entire Uttar Pradesh hunger-free, we just cannot limit our efforts to this point! We need YOUR help too and here’s how you can help in making this happen:

Why should you feed the hungry?

According to an Annual Health Survey, Uttar Pradesh has 34 of 57 Indian districts to have been identified under poor health index. Based on severity, a UNDP report states that Uttar Pradesh falls among the states having hunger at an ‘alarming’ state. At a global scale, UN World Food Programme also reports that over 100 million children in developing countries are underweight.

Help in getting the word out

When you do something for others selflessly, you do a service to yourself and make your life worthwhile. This NGO in Lucknow gives you numerous ways to do so. You can Sign up as its Cyber Advocate and become an online volunteer, set up banners and engage people on online social media or write a blog. 

Help in raising funds

Buzz Aldrin had said - “If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.” So if we can reach the moon, we can also conquer the battle against hunger - Together.  With this belief and your help, you can help us with fundraising activities for our NGO in Lucknow by creating your own campaign, at home, in school or in your community.

With an amount of just Rs. 950, you get to make positive a difference in the life of one child for an entire academic year.

This way, your help won’t just lead to curbing one problem today, but would also help in avoiding many problems in future! Besides hunger, Mid-Day Meal Programme of Akshaya Patra aims to curb classroom hunger, increase school enrolment and attendance, improve socialisation among castes, and empower women through employment.

Spare a moment to pledge a donation, and you might create another story of hope! Nurture a life today.