The Midday Meal Programme
Hunger, we feel sometimes, is the worst tribulation of being poor. Not knowing where the next meal is coming from day after day is a fear not many of us reading this have experienced. But, unfortunately millions do, everyday.

For parents, nothing brings them down to their knees like a hungry child at home, who refuses to drink water again and again for breakfast, for lunch and for dinner. It is no surprise then that the number of malnourished and starving children in India are more than that in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Banishing Hunger: The Midday Meal

Making Cities Hunger-Free

 
 
Banishing Hunger: The Midday Meal

To ensure fewer and fewer children go to bed hungry, the Supreme Court of India in one of its landmark decisions, linked a feeding programme to the government's quality education programme. This was to encourage poor families to enroll their children into government schools so their children would be guaranteed at least one square meal a day. Called the Midday Meal programme, all state governments in the country have to follow it to ensure that every child coming to a government school gets one wholesome meal for lunch on school days.

In partnership with state governments and through corporate donations Naandi runs several automated central Midday Meal Kitchens across the country. These kitchens prepare and deliver high-nutrition noon meals to lakhs of underprivileged children everyday.

These kitchens – given the nature of hi-tech infrastructure required for the task –  are set up with the help of contributions from corporates and other institutions on the land that is provided by the government.

 

Genesis of the Midday Meal programme

Details of Naandi Central Kitchens

StateKitchen LocationSchoolsChildrenMeals Served*
AP Hyderabad 1134 151753 185387301
AP Visakhapatnam 110 60985 32472419
MP Jabalpur 310 53621 34936106
MP Bhopal 535 56805 47332265
MP Indore 414 6626 37729201
RJ Udaipur city, Udaipur 1064 94153 43552437
RJ Bhilwara 522 47800 19788717
RJ Salumber, Udaipur 577 38494 14066869
RJ Gangrar, Chittorgarh 389 21093 10841216
RJ Gandhi Nagar 401 27024 11204232
RJ Nimbahera, Chittorgarh 332 23263 9786630
RJ Kapasan, Chittorgarh 514 26526 10442226
RJ Mandapiya, Chittorgarh 378 21751 9687727
RJ Kishangarh, Ajmer 317 25687 9104767
RJ Jhalawar 545 20395 12318512
OR Ganjam 800 128000 17722545
RJ Sagwara, Dungarpur 374 30473 7755851
RJ Govindgarh, Jaipur 315 40215 5769485
RJ Jhadol 330 ** 20000 ** 3900058
RJ Kota 250 ** 45000 ** 782384
RJ Bikaner 294 33580 4527987
CH Korba 285 20000 899787
AP - Andhra Pradesh
MP - Madhya Pradesh
RJ - Rajasthan
OR - Orrisa

**  -  Currently serving :   Jhadol  - 26 Schools and 1909 children
                                             Kota     -    7 Schools and 801 children.

* Number of Meals served as on 31st  July 2010.



Making Cities Hunger-Free

What started as the Midday Meal for government schoolchildren is now catering to the underprivileged adults as well. Naandi’s Midday Meal kitchens took a step forward in combating hunger and make cities Hunger-Free.

Naandi in partnership with the Government of Rajasthan (GoR) started the Hunger-Free programme on 1 May 2006 by providing cooked meals to the poorest of the poor at a very nominal price.

A meal consisting of rice, rotis and two vegetable curries is being served at a very affordable cost of Rs 4 per person, Rs 8 being the actual cost. Naandi and the Government of Rajasthan share the additional cost equally.

The Hunger-Free programme is underway in Udaipur, Bhilwara and Jhalawar.