Celebrate Dhanteras with a tinge of goodness

 

Dhanteras is a much-awaited festival for Hindus in India as it is called the day of wealth. The word ‘Dhan’ means wealth and ‘Teras’ means the thirteenth day of the Hindu moon cycle. This auspicious day falls on the thirteenth day in the month of ‘Karthika maasa’ on the day of Karthika Krishna Paksha as per the Hindu calendar. This day marks the beginning of the five-day-long festival of Diwali or Deepavali.

Dhanteras or Dhantrayodashi is believed to be the day Goddess Lakshmi emerged as a result of the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan). On this day, people pray to the Goddess for a long life filled with wealth, health and prosperity of their whole family. It is a general ritual of buying new things and purchasing valuables suggesting that the Goddess has entered the home herself.

Significance of Dhanteras

Several stories revolve around why Dhanteras is celebrated and what the significance is in different parts of the country. One popular one is that of Dhantrayodashi. Apart from this, there is a story of celebrating Yama Trayodashi. According to a legend, King Hima’s son who was 16 years old, was predicted of dying from a snake bite after four days of his wedding. The prince’s wife did not let him sleep on the third night, lit lamps and laid out all the jewels, gold coins, etc. outside her husband’s sleep chamber. The young princess kept him awake by singing songs and narrating stories. That night, when Lord Yama came in the form of a snake, the light from the jewels and the lamps blinded him. He wasn’t able to enter the chamber, hence sat on the pile of coins and listened to the stories and songs. And, the next morning, he went away without taking Hima’s son. 

According to Bhagavatha Purana, Lord Dhanvatari – the originator of Ayurveda appeared with Amrit – the elixir of life, during the churning of the ocean, on this very day.

This day holds more significance as a day where new replaces old.

Similarly, we should clear our minds of all the negativity and fill ourselves with good thoughts and kindness to either donate to feed the children who are hungry or to take care of homeless people. Thousands of people and little children stay hungry trying to make ends meet. For them, every single day is a day of struggle between food and other necessities.  

To support such parents who struggle to feed and educate their children, NGOs sponsor their meals and education with the help of online donations or in-kind donations from their supporters. These non-profit organisations implement various programmes that are a part of the Government’s beneficial schemes like the Mid-DayMeal Scheme under the PM Poshan Abhiyaan for children and the Anganwadi scheme for pregnant and lactating mothers under the Integrated Child Development Services. 

One such not-for-profit organisation is The Akshaya Patra Foundation which works on a Public-Private-Partnership model to provide mid-day meals to school-going children under the PM POSHAN Abhiyaan. With various individual donors, corporate partners who donate to feed the children and strong support from various Governments, the NGO cooks and serves locally palatable meals to eliminate classroom hunger.

Akshaya Patra is a 21-year-old NGO that feeds meals to 20,10,516 children in 22,367 schools across 65 locations in 14 states & 2 union territories of India. 

What can you achieve by supporting Akshaya Patra?

By contributing to Akshaya Patra to provide nutritious meals to children studying in Government and Government-aided schools, you support in:

• ·         Nourishing children and taking care of their nutritional status
• ·         Giving children a chance to get educated by giving them a reason to come to school
• ·         Helping children concentrate in class so that they improve their scores
• ·         Reducing the chances of school dropout rates
• ·         Giving children the hope that they too can dream to achieve something they thought they could never achieve.

Can you imagine the smiles on their faces when they get these meals and also get an opportunity to achieve more in life? It is priceless!

So this Dhanteras, make way for new thoughts. Wish the best for children by giving them a future filled with health and dreams.

May you and your family be blessed with abundance!

Happy Dhanteras!

NGOs – A critical link for social change

 

Drive around the city and you may see people living completely different lives on the roadside—people with no qualms in tattered clothes, tents with holes, discoloured hair and undernourished bodies. 

The Government frequently releases schemes and programmes for their welfare. The problem lies in their reach into remote areas and their ground-level execution.

Ever wondered what created the gap in the first place? 
Do they not deserve access to resources just because they are born into low-income families?
Is there anyone listening to their calls for help?

Let's look at the phenomenon of globalisation and the idea of development to answer these questions.  

Industrialisation, Urbanisation and Globalisation

The 19th century saw tremendous advances in transportation and communication. The resulting Industrial Revolution eased trade across borders. Businesses reached new heights by expanding their supply chains internationally. It allowed them to amass incredible amounts of wealth and strengthen the economic positions of their countries.

Eventually, corporations and the better-off sections of the population went further up the economic ladder while the marginalised were exploited for labour. Subsequently, they lost access to basic rights and resources, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the disadvantaged even further.

With such fast-paced industrial progress, even our natural environment began suffering, resulting in the mass destruction of both, flora and fauna. Pollution and depletion of resources questioned the future of upcoming generations and the misuse of capital by a small privileged section of humanity.

The Dawn of Realisation

Around the late 20th century, a conscious of equality for all grew. The idea of development gradually changed from urbanisation and exploitation to sustainable development. People started caring not only for all of humanity but also for the wildlife we took for granted till now. The focus diverted to working for environmental protection and guarding the rights of those who remained suppressed for decades. 

Subsequently, NGOs sprung up to accomplish the global aims of “ending poverty, protecting the planet and improving the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere.”

NGOs – Heroes of the Modern World

Non-Government Organisations or NGOs are voluntary citizen groups that emerged around 40 years ago. Ever since, they have been crucial to 

• advocate welfare and humanitarian assistance
• create awareness about ongoing problems and change the outlook of society
• check on activities of the Government and private entities 
• research, plan, mobilise people and work with local authorities for the execution of welfare schemes at the grassroots level
• collaborate at local, national and international levels

One of the most notable characteristics of NGOs is acting consistently for long-term results. That is why there are many established NGOs in India that the Government recognises as its implementing partners today.

Corporate Social Responsibility

In April 2014, India became the first country to make Corporate Social Responsibility mandatory. Hence, the growing need for businesses to undertake CSR initiatives further boosted NGO activities in the country. They either sent employee groups to volunteer at NGOs in India or donate a portion of their profits to fund welfare programmes. In any case, this significantly boosted people’s participation in social change.

Tax Exemption

The Central Governments made provisions for people to motivate them to donate. For instance, a section under the Income Tax Act provided a percentage of tax exemption if citizens donated to organisations qualifying under the act. In India, you can avail 50% or 100% tax exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act by donating to a charitable organisation. 

Technology and NGOs

NGOs today are not what you may imagine as dull spaces with activists shouting slogans. They are well-versed with the latest technology and their use for the causes they support.

For instance, NGOs like Akshaya Patra, have been using hi-tech cooking mechanisms for 21 years to produce fresh meals for children while avoiding human touch. For the Akshaya Patra initiatives, they not only ensure hygiene while cooking but also produce huge amounts of fresh food for children.

Moreover, the kitchens adhere to Food Safety Management Systems which include sterilising all the cooking equipment with steam before preparing meals. They use food-safe SS 304 Grade vessels, conduct frequent training with the cooks and supervisors to ensure food hygiene, undertake pest control measures and check 'Critical Control Points' like cooking temperature etc.

Donate to NGOs

Since NGOs do not work for profit, they depend on backing from the Government and donors. One can contribute through online donations, fundraising campaigns or even volunteer with them online or offline.

This is true with Akshaya Patra as well. They started by serving fresh, nutritious and hygienic mid-day meals to children of Government schools. But today, years of consistent support from the Government of India and their donor family, they started other programmes for underprivileged people such as Anganwadi Feeding, Disaster Relief feeding, Homeless Mothers Feeding and so on.

Now you can also be a part of their change-maker community. Donate online individually or start a campaign for any of the Akshaya Patra initiatives. When you support their flagship programme PM POSHAN Abhiyaan with a contribution of INR 1500, you will nourish a child for an entire academic year.

Donate to feed the children from low-income and marginalised backgrounds
 for a healthy future of the nation.

Mid-Day Meals Play a crucial role in Academics

 

3 predictors of child malnutrition in India

Child malnutrition is a chronic problem - a difficult malaise to tackle. Substantial progress has been made in child mortality rate; it has reduced from 5.2% in 2012 to 3.4% in 2021. (Global Hunger Index 2021)

However, the causes of death for children under five remain pre-term birth complications, trauma, birth asphyxia, and infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria. Tackling child malnourishment requires a multi-faceted approach which includes improving the quality and quantity of dietary intake, maternal health and education, etc.

The Government of India initiated programmes like the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) that nourish pregnant and lactating mothers and their children below the age of six and midday meals (MDM) to school-going children. Many NGOs in India have also implemented these schemes to ensure that children do not sleep on an empty stomach.

Factors that could predict malnutrition of children

Child malnutrition is divided into undernutrition (insufficient calorie consumption) and overnutrition (excess consumption of calories).

Lack of the right nutrients and macronutrients in a child results in the prevalence of undernourishment in children which could lead to underweightedness, stunting and wasting.

• ·         Poor quality diet
• ·         Poor maternal health
• ·         Socio-economic status 

1.   1) Malnutrition due to poor quality diet

A child of any age can suffer from malnutrition, specifically, young children are more prone. According to the World Health Organisation, malnutrition is the underlying cause of approximately 3.1 million children’s deaths each year.

In India, a child who comes from an average underprivileged household does not get the adequate nutrients in the form of food as their food does not comprise vegetables, lentils and legumes. Including these in the diet gives the right amount of proteins required for children to stay active.

Rising prices of vegetables and other essentials leave no option for parents coming from marginalised sections of society to feed their children with what is cheaply available. NGOs support the children of such parents who run the PM-POSHAN programme (earlier known as the MDM scheme).

2.  2) Malnutrition due to poor maternal health

The Government has made excessive promotions to make people aware that breastfeeding for the first six months is beneficial to a baby. And these benefits extend into adulthood as well.

It goes without saying that a malnourished mother will not be able to pass on the required nutrition to her child in the form of milk. And ultimately, this child will become malnourished and have many deficiencies and complications in the long run.

It is crucial that a woman should be nourished well during all the stages of her pregnancy. A child develops organs right from the mother’s womb. What this means is that the cognitive and physical growth of a child takes place even before it opens its eyes in this world.

3.  3) Malnutrition due to socioeconomic status

A malnourished child grows up to become an undernourished adult who cannot perform to give the best. Not performing the best in a work environment gives less salary which does not give access to good food. This further means that undernourished adults give birth to malnourished children and the cycle continues without a pause.

            Hunger and poverty are vicious cycles - endless

It is very difficult to put an end to this cycle unless a member of the family starts earning better to provide good and wholesome meals. Chronic or long-term malnourishment is concentrated in sections of society coming from challenging socio-economic backgrounds.

Nourishing children right from age zero

Supporting the Government’s initiatives to nourish children at every stage of life, The Akshaya Patra Foundation – an NGO in India provides nutritious meals. These meals are prepared by giving the topmost priorities to safety and hygiene. It is recognised for running the world’s largest NGO-run school meal programme and it has been serving locally palatable meals since 2000.

Akshaya Patra is spread across 61 locations feeding 1.8 million children across 14 states & 2 union territories.

Donate to feed the children who need your support. By serving midday meals for 1 full school year with your donation of ₹1500, you are giving them a reason to come back to school every day. Not only that, by helping them come to school daily, you also help them get educated. By getting educated, you are supporting the next set of leaders and achievers to meet their goals.

Make an online donation to support the dreams of a million children.