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 Krishna Temple 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.

Krishna Temple 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, the 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 the Food Relief Foundation participated in the first ever Lifebuoy National Child Health Symposium and Awards. Out of the hundreds of entries received Krishna Temple 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