Posts tagged India
Mid-day meals nourish 1.2m underprivileged children
30 April 2012
Government of India’s flagship project, ‘Mid-day meals’ continues to nourish more and more underprivileged children, now benefiting approximately 12,00,000 children in India. This is in view of a recent ‘Hunger and Malnutrition’ survey that puts the number of malnourished children in the country at 42 per cent.
Mumbai: Mid-day meal is a strategic program to liberate the underprivileged children from scourge of hunger and malnutrition, this program is a project of the Government of India, and is being implemented by ISKCON Food Relief Foundation under the brand name of ANNAMRITA in selected schools in Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Assam.
ISKCON Food Relief Foundation is a non-profit, non-religious, non-sectarian charitable trust. This project is being implemented in Government aided, and municipal schools for the benefit of underprivileged children. It is done without any commercial motive and the benefits are available to students at large without any discrimination on grounds of religion, caste, creed or sex.
Since the launch in 2004, state-of-the-art kitchens in the above mentioned states have been set up. As of now, the scheme caters approximately 12,00,000 children every day from our centres in Mira Bhayander, Palghar, Nigdi, Tardeo, Juhu, Wada, Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Kurukshetra, Palwal, Tirupati, Nellore, Rajahmundry, Kadapa, Ranga Nara Gadda, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur, Guwahati, Panipat, Haridwar, Jamshedpur and Ujjain.
Most of these children come from slums and tribal areas. The purpose of implementing this scheme is to facilitate the Government in increasing the enrollment in these schools, reducing the drop out rate, and improving the attendance. Also as these are the formative years for the future adult, therefore nutrition is of prime importance.
Corporate bodies such as Accenture, Piramal Group, Reliance Industries, Sterlite, Apar Industries, Mafatlal Industries, Yash Birla Group, Glaxo Smith Kline, DSP Merill Lynch, JSW Group, Godrej, HDFC, Raymonds have been kind enough to support the program with their benevolence. Individuals such as Mr. Alfred Ford of the Ford Motor Company, Late Shri Sunil Dutt, Smt. Indu Jain have given their unstinted support to bring the program to the present level.
With a generous contribution, for the cause of the underprivileged children in India, ISKON foundation hopes to maximise the capacity of this program by setting up more kitchens to cater to more schools and increase the number of beneficiaries many folds.
The professionally managed Mid-day meal program has trained cooks, who use the most advanced technology in cooking under hygienic conditions using fresh and pure ingredients.
The meals are packed and sealed in specially designed stainless steel containers and are transported in vehicles most suited for the logistics. Cooked in the most cost-effective manner, the nutritious, sumptuous and sanctified meal consists of different menus such as khichadi (a mix of rice, dal and vegetables, cooked in pure ghee with spices and tomatoes), Chapati, Subji, Rice Sambar, etc according to local tastes.
Foundation caters to over 2,75,000 children in Maharashtra daily .
The cost of providing food for 1 child for 1 entire year is just Rs 900
Recently ISKCON Food Relief Foundation participated in the first ever Lifebuoy National Child Health Symposium and Awards. Out of the hundreds of entries received ISKCON Food Relief Foundation was awarded as a leading organisation in the sphere of child health with an outstanding contribution in the area of nutrition.
SOURCE: ONEWORLD South Asia
Food for Life in Vrindavan
Sep 14th
Saving the lives of children every day
India has the largest number of poor children in Asia, with 80% of its 400 million youth severely deprived. In India, 60% of all children are classed as absolutely poor. Almost half of all children under the age of 5 are malnourished. Even as India continues to record impressive growth rates, poverty remains widespread and disparities deeply entrenched. The country is ranked 119th as per the 2010 Global Human Development Report, and according to the new poverty estimates, 37.2% of the national population and 41.8% of the rural population lives below the poverty line, states a report from the United Nations Development Programme for India.
India’s Poverty Profile: At a Glance
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37% of the population lives below the national poverty line.
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41.8% of the rural population lives below the poverty line.
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80% of the rural poor belong to the marginalised caste and tribal communities. More than 90% of the overall workforce is employed in the informal economy
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96% of the women work in the informal economy
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254 women per 100,000 births die due to maternity-related causes
One non-governmental organisation is striving to do something about this disparity. Since 1990, Food for Life Vrindavan (an affiliate of Food for Life Global) has served over 5 million healthy vegetarian meals to the poorest children in India, along with a variety of other services including, free medical care from their own hospital, social development, vocational training, adult education, social entrepreneurship, women empowerment, legal assistance, martial arts, classical dance training for girls, tree planting, water well creation, and full educational services up to year 12 for over 1500 children at their four Sandipani Muni schools for the poor. HOW TO HELP
ISKCON Food Relief – simply the best in quality and quantity
Jul 1st
Food for Life Global affiliate, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation has set the standard for quality nutritious lunches for school children. The organisation continues to expand its popular lunch service all throughout India. The fact that the non-profit can maintain such a high standard of quality, while serving over 250,000 meals daily is astonishing to say the least.
ISKCON State of the art kitchen
THE SETTING
Hunger and illiteracy are two of India’s most widespread and pressing problems. Although public schooling is offered free of cost to children aged 6–14, poverty bars the underprivileged from taking advantage. Typically hailing from slums and tribal areas, such children must either go hungry at school or resort to begging and child labor.
In 2004, the Government of Maharashtra appointed Midday Meal to provide nutritional support for primary school children. The initiative aims to break the hunger cycle by providing impoverished families the incentive to keep their children in school—and off the streets. Midday Meal is a non-profit strategic program run for the benefit of all hungry students without consideration of caste, religion, or gender. For most children, it is their only complete meal of the day.
ISKCON Midday Meal Trucks
THE IMPACT
Numerous studies have demonstrated that there is a direct correlation between these lunch programs and increased student enrollment, attendance, attention spans, and exam scores. Other benefits include reductions in skin infection, anemia, and marked improvements in body mass index.
STATE OF THE ART PROCESS
Midday Meal’s four ISO-certified, custom-built kitchens mass-produce meals which are hygienic, nutritious, tasty, and cost-effective. To feed one student costs only ten cents per day, or $20.35 per school year.
Midday Meal’s logistical infrastructure is a marvel of engineering ingenuity. Its unique solutions include:
- automated conveyor belt
- steam-jacketed cauldrons (660 lb. capacity)
- tamper-proof stainless steel containers
- computerized recipes
- flight-kitchen grade ventilation and drainage
- rack-fitted delivery vehicles
4 kitchens + 55 cooks + 69 vans + 1225 schools + 4500 miles = 250,000 smiles
“Meals for 24,000 children can be prepared, in two shifts per day, by only five persons. The kitchen was so spotlessly clean that I wondered if it was yet to become operational.”
—Sudheendra Kulkarni
(The Economic Times, Mumbai)
Happy children enjoying their free lunch
CONTACT
Director
ISKCON Food Relief Foundation
7 K. M. Munshi Marg, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400007
Mobile 98210 55520. Tel 2366 5500
rkd@middaymeal.com
