Kshuda Shanti

Akshay Patra's Google+ page

After 67 years of Independence, a child born in India is still unsure of getting adequate food and apposite education. Who is to blame is the second question; the first question is what are we doing to change the picture? An underprivileged child in India has work to get him and his family fed thereby compromising for his education. During the work, he may be battered to work out of his limits and even assaulted physically. The young heart may not even know what is going on with him; such is the state where helplessness forces a child into illiteracy and never come out of it.”Paapi pet ka sawaal hai“; the hungry stomach forces a man to do things that are not always honest. But we cannot hide behind proverbs to justify what is wrong.  A hungry child van choose anything; lets help him choose the right.

Government should invest more into Education in the rural areas. Steps should be taken to ensure that no middlemen come into picture and the funds are utilized at the right place and for the right people.  More awareness should be spread for activities like Mid Day Meal Program and appropriate steps should be taken to ensure the quality of the food distributed. NGOs and the people should come ahead and taken up activities like Teach For India to promote education and awareness amongst the lesser privileged.

Imagine an India where no child sleeps empty stomach; it will require solid public effort but what if this becomes a reality. Children will be sent to schools to learn and advance; they will not only educate themselves but take their families with them into the light to awareness and betterment. All children and families learning and being more aware will make India a better place to live, a happier, healthier and a cleaner place. This will be a movement in itself.

Akshaya Patra reaches out to 1.4 million children every day of school and is committed to its mission of reaching 5 million children by 2020. The organisation serves in Government and Government aided schools across India, mainly targeting children from economically disadvantaged households. With array of nutritious food on the menu, many children get attracted to school, enrol themselves and attend school regularly. For many children, who’d have to work for a square meal every day, the food comes as a boon not only because they can satiate their hunger but also because they get an opportunity to access education.  

Let us help in their honest effort. It takes only Rs. 750 to feed a child for an year. Let us do our bit by donating here. Lets help to eliminate hunger. Lets work for Kshuda Shanti.

Some statistics about children and hunger in India,

• Every sixth child in the world lives in India (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation- MoSPI, 2012).
• Children constitute over one-third of India’s population of 1.21 billion people, which means India is home to 400 million children.
• Out of the 400 million children in India, every second child is malnourished (National Family Health Survey III – NFHS, 2005-06).
• Over Six million children under five in the world died in 2013 with hunger and malnutrition being the main causes: UN Report.
• India has 10.12 million child labourers aged between 5 to 14 years (National Census 2011).
• Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) at the Secondary Level in government schools in India is below 50% (District Information System for Education - DISE, 2011-12).
• About 35% children in India with disabilities remain out of Elementary school (District Information System for Education - DISE, 2011-12).
• School dropout rate amongst adolescent girls in India is as high as 63.5% (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation - MoSPI, 2012).

    I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda.

    Watch Akshay Patra’s video called “The Possibilities” by A. R . Rahman,