The Sathya Sai Loka Seva Gurukulam under the leadership of Sadguru Madhusudhan Sai making his maximum efforts with a great team of members to establish the Loka Seva mission, one world one family, and building the nation through implementing the following schemes for the welfare of the down trading people in different parts of states in India and world countries. Providing Morning Nutrition nutritious food, quality education, and good health are the ultimate goals of this mission.

The current status of the so far implemented schemes is as follows.

Free Morning Nutrition

• For needy schoolchildren
• Attending typically rural govt. schools
• Around 90,00,000 children, 1,00,000 schools, 25 States, 4 UTs, and Over145million meals served till date.Free Education for poor rural children

• 3000 children from 27 residential Campuses in 20 Districts of Karnataka state.
• From Grade 6 through university level,1000+Girls, many first-generation literates’
• Stipend during internship and post-graduation
• 2000 online video lessons, 25K subscribers, 30L viewers.
• Visible transformation in children, many first-generation literates and especially confident girls

Scholarship for Primary School Children

• Addressing child dropouts from Rural Primary Schools
• Monitor attendance & progress of 6000 students from 1^st to 6^th grades under the guidance of over 600 volunteers.
• Transfer the Scholarship amount to the child’s bank account every month only after verifying monthly attendance
• Focus on imbibing values and healthy practices in young children who are our next generation.

Free hospitals & Medical Colleges in Rural Areas of India

• 03 Tertiary Care & 01 Multi-disciplinary Hospital
• New Mother & Child centres in progress
• 19,000 patients treated, 1.52 Lakh consultations, 600 beds, and 150 ICU beds
• World’s first free medical college under construction of 250000 sq. ft., 8 dept. Labs, 4 galleries, 3 museums and 1 L
• Delivering access to health care for underserved people.

The noble service of the Annapoorna Morning Nutrition Program (AMNP) began breakfast service in the year 2012 at one village at Doddabele for 50 govt. School children.

The food was cooked at volunteers’ homes by turn. In 2013, food preparation was changed to a catering model via a vendor to ensure sustainability and consistency. Moreover, the provision of food was added to a second village, Vinayak Nagar, in 2014. In 2015, the trust was registered, and service began at 90 rural government schools with essential foods like milk and bananas. In 2016, the style was changed to cooked breakfast, using a decentralized cooking model. Further, the service of AMNP reached coverage of 1.5Lakh children studying in 15 States & 2 UTs by the year 2017.

In 2018, a sharp focus was laid on Nutrition Security and “hidden hunger”. Introduced Sai Sure Multi-nutrient supplement for Karnataka; coverage reached 2.5 lakh children. In 2019, Sai Sure service expanded to several other states; coverage reached 5 lakh children in 17 states and 3 UT. In 2020 and 2021, Extensive Covid support was undertaken for both the children and their families. Monthly provisions, immunity kits, medical equipment, etc. ‘

In addition, Sai Sure Morning Nutrition is being procured from Sai Sure Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). In 2022, Schools resumed. Wholesome Ragi, Finger Millet, Cereal Drink introduced in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Sai sure coverage also expanded across India. Total coverage reached 09 Lakh Children at 1,00,000 schools across 25 states and 4UTs.  Thus, AMN is growing year by year with glorious development. The strengths of Students and States and Union Territories are given in the table as well as shown in the diagram.

Table 1.1 Strength of beneficiaries in different States and Union Territories

Abbreviations for the diagram – 1

50 Sts.             =          50 Students

150 Sts.           =          150 Students

1,000 Sts.        =          1,000 Students

8,000 Sts.        =          8,000 Students

22,000 Sts.      =          22,000 Students

1,17,139 Sts.   =          1,17,139 Students

2,43,541 Sts.   =          2,43,541 Students

5,00,100 Sts.   =          5,00,100 Students

NA                  =         

12,00,000 Sts. =          12,00,000 Students

30,00,000 Sts. =          30,00,000 Students

90,00,000 Sts. =          90,00,000 Students

Abbreviations for the diagram – 2

1 St                  =          1 State

1 St                  =          1 State

1 St                  =          1 State

6 St                  =          6 State

8 St                  =          8 State

15 S, 2 UTs     =          15 States and 2 Union Territories

15 S, 2 UTs     =          15 States and 2 Union Territories

17 S, 3 UTs     =          17 States and 3 Union Territories

17 S, 3 UTs     =          17 States and 3 Union Territories

23 S, 4 UTs     =          23 States and 4 Union Territories

23 S, 4 UTs     =          23 States and 4 Union Territories

25 S, 4 UTs     =          23 States and 4 Union Territories

Every year the Global Hunger Index reports on the status of Socioeconomic status of every country. India’s status on the Hunger Index is very poor. Let us see the report in detail.

Global Hunger Index (GHI) (2023) gives India a rank of 111 out of 125 countries. This indicates a hunger severity level of ‘serious’ for the country. This also marks a fall from the previous year’s rank of 107 (2022).

• India’s GHI score is 28.7 on a 100-point scale where 0 is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst.
• From 2000 to 2015, India made good strides in the GHI rank while from 2015, India has advanced on the GHI by only 0.5 points.
• The 2023 GHI score for the world is 18.3, which is considered moderate.
• Globally, the share of undernourished people has increased to 9.2%.
• The regions with the highest hunger levels in the world are South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Each region has a GHI score of 27, indicating ‘serious’ hunger.
• Latin America and the Caribbean are the only regions in the world whose GHI scores have worsened between 2015 and 2023.
• China is among the top 20 countries that each have a GHI score of less than 5.
• The region with the lowest GHI score is Europe and Central Asia, whose score of 6.0 is considered ‘low’.
• According to the report, the fight against global hunger has stagnated because of multiple factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change, etc.

      The government as well as NGOs are making great efforts towards raising the economic standard of our citizens. As Maslow’s Hierarchy principle says physiological needs are primarily essential for a human being to survive. This basic need is to be ensured in a democratic country like India. The Government, NGOs supported CSR, Philon therapists and others who have succeeded in the physiological needs are joining together to bring the people up to the people who are struggling with Physiological needs.

Global Hunger Index (2022) stated that around 3,000 children die every day of malnutrition and hunger. One of the reasons may relate to poverty. 21% of the population lives on less than $1.90 per day. The result is that 38% of the children under 5 years of age are wasted. Thinness in school-age children is extremely high in India at 25%. About 236 million children attend 1.1 million government schools, making them an ideal platform for effective nutritional intervention at scale.

            In India, nearly 70 per cent of school-going children are undernourished. Many Philanthropists, Social workers and NGOs were motivated to think about solving such a deep-rooted problem that draws sustenance from the many social, economic and demographic challenges that face our country. While the Government’s mid-day meals and other initiatives have addressed hunger to some extent in school-going children, a lot remains to be done in terms of bridging the nutrition gap. Researchers have identified that providing breakfast to disadvantaged children has a lasting effect on the health of children, presented itself as a window of opportunity to make a difference Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust has been running one of India’s leading morning nutrition programs for rural schools children working at the grassroots level in the area of child nutrition security and “hidden hunger” management. The morning nutrition is served in the form of either the “Sai Sure” nutrition health mix presented with milk, or the “Fortified Ragi” Finger Millet Wholesome Cereal Drink, cooked breakfast or any other available nutritious food items. This is prepared freshly at the school in the morning and served to children at the school premises before commencing studies.

            It has been observed that a small morning nutritional intervention had many positive ripple effects, which are summarized below:

1) Drop-out rates arrested, Enrolment’s protected.

2) Increased enrolments, driven by the spread of word of mouth on the morning service at school and support from parents.

3) Improved punctuality of children, in anticipation of service.

4) Rise in motivation level among teachers, who are no longer teaching on empty stomachs in the morning.

5) Increased focus in the class seen among children.

6) Improved academic performance by the children.

7) Improved health profile and Immunity.

8) Maximized probability of completing school, thereby delivering literate, healthy and productive young citizens to the nation.

     Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust works hard in its venture of doing Education and Health services freely to the downtrodden Rural School Students and health services by opening Hospitals without having any personal agenda. The Philatelists and welfare organizations are coming forward to accept their contribution to society’s upliftment and honour the Annapoorna service by way of giving awards and rewards:                                       

• The Best School Health Program of the Year 2022
• Indian CSR Awards2022
• Lead India Award
• United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Awards 2020
• Solidarity Award
• Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award of Excellence for Annapoorna Trust 27th July 2020
• Winner of Rotary Karnataka NGO Awards
• “Best NGO for eradicating extreme hunger” at CSR Times Summit
• The CSR Health Impact Awards
• First Prize in CSR competition conducted by Intel – I. ‘
• 2022- Best School Health Program of the Year: Indian CSR Awards
• 2022 – Lead India Award
• 2023- NGO of the Year: CST, YBS Forums
• 2023 – Most Committed NGO: CSR Summit, UBS Forums

The vision of the Annapoorna’s trust is to let no child go to school hungry, ever! Many like-minded individuals and organizations who are participating in this noble cause of nation-building through nutrition are behind the noble cause.

            Presently, Annapoorna intends to provide morning nutrition to over 90,00,000 children across 25 states and 4 Union Territories across India. These children attend government schools, located typically in rural hinterland. It is proud to mention that Annapoorna Trust has been the NGO which is serving Morning Nutrition to the highest number of students in India.

Any Program which involves more contributions from NGOs and Philanthropies will be curious to know whether my contribution has served the purpose or not. They themselves may inspect the spot and check the progress of the work. Sometimes, they may be invited and appraise the status of the service will be helpful to satisfy them.

            As per the Annapoorna Trust is concerned, the trustees are a disparate mix of corporate professionals, doctors and entrepreneurs and bring to the table a vast body of knowledge and experience. They are involved in the strategy, planning and execution of the breakfast program and also coordinate volunteer engagement and allocation. They meet periodically to discuss the progress of work and other Trust-related activities. It is an organization completely run by volunteers, a committed base of 650 volunteers comprising working professionals, homemakers, doctors, nutritionists, entrepreneurs, teachers and retired professionals who work seamlessly to deliver breakfast services across various centres and schools, this kind of research may help the Trust / Institution maximize their service to the targeted indigent people by giving suggestions to the authorities involved in different layers.

            As our Chairman and Founder, Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai Stresses, it is a time when Sammathi Sarkar and Sastha should work together. This will play a major role in reflecting the Morning Nutrition Program’s positive aspect and will allow like-minded organisations to be part of this great mission.