Nutritional deficiency among children is a cause for concern nationwide. According to some studies, 40% of children in India are malnourished. Children need the right nutrition in their most formative years to help them grow both - physically and mentally.
Some of the most painful disparities among children that Shankar K. has witnessed in his 25 year career as a teacher used to come about during lunch time.
“Children would bring just plain rice, chilly powder and salt to lunch. Some of the better ones, who were not struggling so much, would get more food. It was very difficult to see such differences when they were eating,” he says.
According to him, one of the biggest benefits of the mid-day meal program that Akshaya Patra implements is that it has removed these disparities. Now, all students at his school sit down to enjoy the same meal. There is equity regardless of class or caste and for Shankar, this is a step in the right direction.
He fully understands the need for this one meal, especially when considering the challenges that children in his school face. Parents who are daily wage laborers or field workers struggle to make ends meet, earning between Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 a day (approx. $2 to $4). Often uneducated they have little or no employment opportunities other than manual labour. Some parents suffer from drinking problems that adversely affect family life.
“At times you don’t know what to say to the parents or how to approach them,” he says. His experience as a teacher in Bellary is not unique. It is echoed by many others throughout India where the mid-day meal program is implemented. Independent reports across the country cited in the NP-NPSE 2006 Guidelines indicate that the program is slowly helping to remove the social barriers that previously existed because children sit down together to eat the same meal.
