In the Budget 2016, the total allocation to the ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) was ₹17,408 crore. This included ₹413 crore for funding the National Nutrition Mission, which addresses the maternal and child malnutrition issues.
At present, the government looks after pregnant women in the high-burden districts of India, these districts are defined by their backwardness and their lack of basic facilities. But, the new scheme will be for all families living below the poverty line across the country.
This will ensure that children across the country have equal chances for a healthy growth through access to good and nutritious food.
The Indian demography
India’s population that stands over 1.25 billion is expected to become the world’s most populous country, overtaking China by 2022. A good percentage of the Indian population, though, does not have access to all the resources are expected to live a very happy and healthy life in the near future. However, currently, the impact of this lack of resources is acutely experienced by the most vulnerable section of the society, the children.
The school lunch provided by The Akshaya Patra Foundation has ensured that no child is deprived of their basic need for nutritious food. Feeding the children is one of chief aims of the Foundation. The main aim is to free a child from the shackles of hunger and help them focus in classroom. A child need not to worry about a meal.
Power of a full stomach
While a child may be deprived of the required nutrition, it is not just the physical development that would be affected, but also the mental development. A lack of adequate nutrition could affect the intellectual growth because of the less number of micro-nutrients that are necessary for the mental development.
Hence, ensuring adequate nutrition in the food is important not just for an individual, but also for the country as a whole. That is because today’s young children are the future of the country. Hence, it’s extremely important to feed the children and ensuring they don’t have to worry about food, they will be able to focus on their studies alone. And, mentally healthy children would grow up to be healthy adults and for a country to have healthy citizens, this is imperative.
Future Focus
The future is about knowledge economies. To establish a country as a knowledge economy, it’s necessary that its citizens are knowledgeable and mentally healthy.
In the knowledge economy, it’s about the intellectual prowess of the citizens of a nation that will define its success. By using the collective intellect of the citizens, India will be able to stand up and grow up to be a rich nation by being able to develop on all fronts.
Akshaya Patra, which plays a role in the intellectual development of the country, is a channel for anyone to contribute towards charity for children who are in need. This will provide you a path to directly play a role in ensuring a bright future for the country.
