“Water is essential for a healthy life and environment. Replenish water bodies and make an effort to stop polluting the seas with plastic and sewage.” – Manjushree L.

“Every living organism depends on water for survival and we must save water now so it will be useful for future generations. I hope more farmers can implement sprinkler irrigation, a proven measure to reduce water wastage.” – Savitha M.

“The water cycle is an essential part of life. Water is very important for agriculture and generation of electricity. We must treat wastewater and use it for irrigation purpose.” – Bavitha K.

“Water plays a role in all aspects of life. We’re completely dependent on it. We must store and utilise rainwater for bathing and washing vessels.” – Vishwaraj V.M.

“Water is very important for building, agriculture, drinking, and general household work. Rainwater harvesting and water treatment plants can solve a lot of water issues.” – Santosh P.

These are the opinions of our future philanthropist, Manjula L.; future teachers, Savitha M. and Bhavitha K.; future singer, Vishwaraj V.M.; and future lawyer, Santosh P. They are all aware of the significance of water. But, is it possible for them to achieve their dreams without access to clean drinking water? Quite possibly not! Because, it is estimated that consumption of contaminated water takes away lives of nearly 1,000 children, each day.

Water is the quintessential element of life. It not only quenches our thirst but also affects our health and livelihood. So, what about those who have to tread miles of distances to reach a source of clean drinking water? Yes, there are more than 663 million people who do not have access to safe drinking water thereby affecting their health, growth, and progress.

Upon recommendation at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) for an international day to spread awareness about the significance of freshwater and how to conserve it, the United Nations General Assembly declared 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. Since then, it has become an annual event observed globally on March 22. Each year, this day is dedicated to a specific theme related to freshwater with the theme for 2018 being ‘Nature for Water’. This theme will focus on exploring nature-based solutions to tackle and overcome water challenges of the 21st century. Since our ecosystem has already undergone excessive damage there is a need to restore ecological balance and only nature-based measures have the potential to provide sustainable solutions for rebalancing water cycle and conserving freshwater. Backing this situation is the Sustainable Development Goal 6 that targets to ‘achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030’ while also targeting protection of water-related ecosystems and effective sanitation management. It is reported that:

Mindful of this critical situation, several not-for-profit organisations have taken up water conservation as their core cause and many others have taken measures to save water in their realm of services. One such NGO belonging to the latter category is The Akshaya Patra Foundation. This Indian charitable trust works in the sector of Mid-Day Meal Scheme providing freshly cooked nutritious meals to more than 1.6 million government school children from their 34 kitchen units located in 12 states of India.

All the kitchens cook up a variety of nutrition-rich meals every day, making potable water one of the vital ingredients. To maintain hygiene standards, all the kitchens make use of RO purified water for its pre-cooking and cooking processes. Additionally, water is also required for other operational processes such as washing and cleaning of vessels, kitchens, equipment, and meal delivery vans. Being aware of the huge requirement and remaining steadfast in the hygiene and cleanliness standards Akshaya Patra has taken several steps to optimise the use of water in its realm of service. The NGO runs pilot projects in its kitchens focussing on every area of kitchen processes and upon achieving favourable results implements it in the daily operations. Some of the measures that have clearly resulted in reduced water consumption are:

In conclusion, let’s be grateful for having the basic necessity called ‘water’ readily available to most of us. And, as our beneficiaries mentioned at the very outset let’s take tangible steps to conserve the precious drops so that everyone gets an equal share of this life-sustaining element.

For the benefit of children and environment, Akshaya Patra invites your participation in its efforts to conserve water. Share your ideas in the comments section and also spread the word in your network about the Foundation’s cause.

The power of the people manifested itself to win India freedom from an oppressive colonial power in 1947 and January 26, 1950, cemented its position in history as a republic. We, the people of India, are the ones who made this Republic; who continue to make this Republic.

Every revolution in the world started with We, the people. The will of the ordinary man fused with that of his/her fellow citizens to form a force. This force, against oppression, against the denial of basic rights, became a movement and permeated the collective conscience of the people. It instigated them to rise in revolt against the forces that kept them from their right to liberty, justice, equality and a decent life.

The preamble of the Constitution of India talks about ‘EQUALITY of status and of opportunity’. One of the important means to ensure this equality is by making education and its fruits available to the children of this great nation, who are brimming with potential. Making this a reality is full of challenges. A study conducted by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) jointly with Global Education Monitoring Report in 2016, found that 47 million children dropped out of school by Std X. It also revealed that India has the third highest number of out-of-primary school children at 2.9 million, who have never attended school. One of the biggest roadblocks to education in the country is poverty, the study found.

Although the statistics of children attending schools in India is a little worrying, however, there is room for improvement. Our national development plans need to focus on the root cause that is poverty, which has forced many children quit education to support their family. Child labour is one such plague which is a direct outcome of poverty and due to this social and economic differences often families prefer earning instead of educating their children. A proper meal is all that these children look for every day and we as a society need to fight hunger and provide better opportunities to the young minds.

Role of NGOs and role of a social worker is crucial in today’s generation as they help us reach the ground level. We as a part of the society can build a system where children are fed properly and given equal opportunities irrespective if their background. The mid-day meals provided by Akshaya Patra works as an encouragement for all these children who might come from a challenging background but has high hopes and big dreams to achieve.

Akshaya Patra works in partnership with the Central and State governments of India to implement its Mid-Day Meal Programme, the largest of its kind in the world operated by an NGO.

With over 1.6 million beneficiaries in 12 Indian states, the Foundation’s ‘Unlimited Food for Education’ philosophy has fed the dreams of numerous children over the years. Its immediate mission is to feed 5 million children by 2020 every day, with a nutritious school lunch cooked in its ISO-certified, state-of-the-art kitchens.

Let this Republic Day celebration be towards the fulfilment of the dreams of India’s young hearts and minds. Pledge to feed the children and help the nation take a leap towards progress by contributing to a bright future lit with success and education.