Midday Meal | RadhanathSwami.com

In India today:

60 million children are afflicted by hunger
6 million become mildly retarded due to malnutrition

Hunger—A Dark Cloud

Only education can empower the youth of India to realize their full potential, earn a decent living, and build a better future.

Although schooling is compulsory for children aged 6–14, poverty bars the underprivileged among them from taking advantage. Typically hailing from slums and tribal areas, such children must either go hungry at school or abandon their studies in favour of menial jobs.

Either outcome serves to cripple cognitive development and hamstring healthy growth—each stumbling blocks to a promising future.

VISION

Midday Meal was appointed in 2004 by the Government of Maharashtra to provide nutritional support to primary school children. The scheme aims to break the hunger cycle by providing impoverished families the incentive to keep their kids in class. For most children, it is their only complete meal of the day. The service is performed free from commercial motive for the benefit of all hungry stomachs, without consideration of religion, caste, creed, or sex.

Blessings by the numbers

With the generous help of private donors, Midday Meal has grown considerably since its inception.

2004
- 1 kitchen
- 900 meals per day
2009
- 4 state-of-the-art, ISO-9001-certified kitchens
- 200,000 meals per day

Results

Dramatic increase in enrollment and attendance
91% of teachers report significant reduction in drop out rate
99.6% of students report greater ability to concentrate

Supporters

Testimonies

“I was so deeply moved on seeing this kitchen and the purpose behind it in feeding so many hungry children! For me it is the biggest selfless service to Krishna. He gives us the strength for this noble cause. May India never go hungry.”

—Avanti Birla