Honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka, Sri Siddaramaiah joined hands with Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai, a young humanitarian and visionary to launch the state-wide Annapoorna Morning Nutrition Programme in all government schools.
At Vidhan Soudha, a state-wide launch of the Annapoorna Morning Nutrition Programme took place in the presence of the Honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka – Sri Siddaramaiah. This nutrition programme is the brainchild of Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai, with the motto – ‘Let no child go to school hungry ever!’ Karnataka has been the hub of Annapoorna’s services for the past nine years, and what started with just feeding 50 children in Karnataka, growing in phases to about 3,62,243 children across 5,085 schools, has today whizzed through the whole of Karnataka embracing under its loving care an additional 55 lakh children to 53,619 schools.
With this, almost all the government school-going children in Karnataka will receive their morning nutrition through a unique multi-nutrient supplement, ‘SaiSure’, specially customised for children. A ragi-variant or a malt-variant of SaiSure will be supplied to all the government schools by Annapoorna, and all it takes is to mix the SaiSure Health Mix along with the milk that is given to all children by Karnataka’s Ksheera Bhagya Programme. SaiSure can also be partaken with jaggery and water.
The farming community of Karnataka is also benefitting in a big way as Annapoorna purchases organically-grown ragi millet through the Subhiksha Organic Farmers’ Multi-State Cooperative Society Ltd, which offers a seamless transaction from farmers to consumers, thereby compensating the farmers fairly enough for their livelihood, much above MSP.
Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust, in collaboration with the Government of Karnataka, Karnataka Milk Federation and the Department of Primary and Secondary Education made this launch a successful one. The event was also graced by important dignitaries from the Government of Karnataka like Sri Madhu Bangarappa – Minister of Primary & Secondary Education, Sri K H Muniyappa – Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Dr Shalini Rajneesh – IAS Officer, Sri Ritesh Kumar Singh – IAS & Principal Secretary, and Sri T B Jayachandra – Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Annapoorna Morning Nutrition Programme is today India’s largest one for morning nutrition, as it serves 90 lakh children throughout India, in 25 States and 5 Union Territories.
The Honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka said in his speech, “Since 2013, the Karnataka government’s Ksheera Bhagya initiative has supplied milk to government school-going children five days a week. A budget of about INR 731 crores has also been approved for this programme this year. By launching SaiSure, which addresses nutritional
inadequacies, prevents anaemia, and promotes children’s holistic development, Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust has added even more value to our efforts. I would like to thank the Trust on behalf of the Government and all the beneficiaries for this fantastic initiative.”
Sri Madhusudan Sai in his address remarked, “I wish for the happiness and welfare of all. Alongside Ksheera Bhagya and Anna Bhagya, today ‘SaiSure Bhagya’ is also reaching students. Just as children are divine, farmers are also Gods as it is they who feed the nation. Through SaiSure, ragi millets are being sourced directly from farmers at good rates thereby ensuring their well-being and sustainability.”