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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | NGO in government's bad books to pilot free school breakfast

NGO in government's bad books to pilot free school breakfast

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published Published on Aug 19, 2016   modified Modified on Aug 19, 2016
-The New Indian Express

HYDERABAD: A few select government school students in the city will now be served breakfast thanks to Akshya Patra’s efforts. The NGO  will provide breakfast at 20 government schools in Hyderabad from September.

“We will give idly-sambar, upma-chutney and pongal-chutney for breakfast,” said Kaunteya Dasa of Akshaya Patra. The breakfast initiative is funded by Aurobindo Pharma, a pharmaceutical company as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

“We are already helping government schools with mid-day meal schemes providing lunch for over one lakh children,” he adderd.

“We started this initiative based on inputs from teachers saying the children are not able to concentrate during the mornings due to hunger,” Kaunteya said.

“We want to provide breakfast for around 10,000 children every day. We are doing case studies and surveys of student enrolment and what students feel about the programme. After successful implementation of this programme we will approach the government,”  Kaunteya Dasa said. However, officials at the state women and child development department were not too happy with the quality of food the NGO serves. “As far as Akshaya Patra is concerned, I am not happy,” said KRS Laxmi Devi, joint director of women and child welfare department. Their quality of food is not good and it is either overcooked or undercooked, said the official.

“The rice is not washed properly and one can find insects in the food. Sometimes one can also find particles of scrubbers used for cleaning utensils in their meals,” she added.

Akshya Patra had recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the  International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to provide them with millets and recipes for millet based dishes. “We will have millets in the menu, as they are very healthy. Depending on how the children respond we will take it forward,” Kaunteya added.

“This will definitely help children, not only to gain weight but also to provide enough immunity to fight diseases. It’s a welcome decision to include upma and other such calorie-rich foods, as majority of the Protein Energy Malnutrition cases are deficient in calories,” said Mohammad Reshad, a practicing pediatrician.


The New Indian Express, 18 August, 2016, http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/NGO-in-governments-bad-books-to-pilot-free-school-breakfast/2016/08/18/article3585148.ece


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