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"Lizards and insects emerging out of midday meals will now be a thing of the past for 65,000 children studying in government schools in and around Jamshedpur. Come April 9 and their meals will roll out from delivery vans packed in shining steel utensils containing 'dal, bhat and subzi' cooked in huge semi-automatic steam cookers at a centralized kitchen." - Times of India, 07 April 2012 Annamrita, in association with Govt. of Jharkhand and Tata Steel, rolled out its new Midday Meal Program in Jharkhand on 8th April, 2012. This will provide the right nutrition to underprivileged children to support their education, in the state of Jharkhand. The Chief Minister, Sri Arjun Munda, inaugurating the program at Ramdas Bhatta Community Centre at Jharkhand, said that he was highly impressed with the work of Annamrita during his last visit to its Delhi Centre. Ever since, he firmed up his intent to invite Annamrita to Jharkhand State. He took this forward by speaking to Mr. H.M.Nerurkar-- M.D., Tata Steel-- who expressed a keen interest. Thus the foundation stone was laid in July 2011. Annamrita, having 25 centralized state-of-the-art kitchens across India has set-up a new one now in Jharkhand. The pilot project, first of its kind in the State, is having the capacity to provide hygienic and nutritious food to over 1 Lakh students in and around Jamshedpur and adjoining Seraikela-Kharswan districts.  Until now the food provided under the Midday Meal scheme was not only poor in nutritional value but also prepared in very unhygienic conditions. Children often complained of lizards in dal, insects & cockroaches in rice. It was no surprise that children often fell ill after consuming such food. Annamrita has pledged to bring smile on the face of each child. Children can now hope to enjoy high quality, delicious & nutritious foods. Annamrita is now introducing khichdi with green vegetables, fried rice, pulav and other delicious meals apart from rice and dal, so that the children will not get bored of eating the same food every day. Extreme care is being taken to ensure that the food is cooked in hygienic conditions. Huge steel cookers with a capacity to cook 600 liters of dal and vegetables and 100 kg of rice have been installed. Electrical vegetable choppers will automatically cut the vegetables which are directly transferred to the steam cookers after the addition of salt and spices. The cooked food will be parcelled through properly sealed containers to the schools where it will be opened in the presence of school authorities. Besides 20 highly skilled cooks, Annamrita has employed 16 women to clean the rice provided by the Govt. As many as 44 drivers and helpers from neighboring localities are employed. The project has created meaningful employment opportunities for many.  | ||||
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Sakal Marathi Daily reports - "Ever since Annamrita, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation is serving Midday Meal, in Municipal Schools of Aurangabad, the attendance in these schools has gone up by 1274 nos." The maximum increase in attendance of students has been recorded in Kiradpura Primary School. The total population of students of Primary Schools of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation is more than 16,000. The tasty, wholesome meal prepared in pure ghee - khichdi, dal, rice, usal and other food preparations are attracting more and more students to these schools. In Chikhalthana region (Aurangabad), Annamrita has established an ultra-modern state-of-the-art kitchen where sumptuous, tasty and excellent quality food is cooked for the students. Khichdi and other food items are supplied to Marathi and Urdu medium Schools.  Dainik Divya Marathi Daily Newspaper reports - "ISKCON Food Relief Foundation's Annamrita, Midday Meal Program created a miracle. Earlier, the attendance of students used to decrease after the month of February; but this year, the attendance has increased by 1274 students in the last one month; and on an average, the increase is around 8%." Every Saturday, either Rajgira Laddu or Chikki is provided to students, resulting in highest attendance. Since Khichdi and other good stuff of excellent quality are offered, more students are attracted to the schools.  "Khichdi is the kind of food that fills our stomach. It also helps many poor students who do not get nutritious food, because of financial problem. In our school, every working day we get delicious khichdi. The aroma of Khichdi is very pleasing and it looks very yummy. I am eating this food since I was in 3rd standard and I really love it. I feel very sad that I will be missing this tasty Khichdi after 8th standard." - Vaibhavi Prakash Vare, a standard V student from Sir J. J. Girls' High School, Mumbai | ||||
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A team of executives accompanied by Mr. Arun Tiwari, G.M., Bank of Baroda, visited the Annamrita office and its kitchen. As part of their CSR activity, Bank of Baroda has extended its support by sponsoring 222 children. Annamrita expresses its heartfelt thanks to Bank of Baroda.  | ||||
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