Years ago, when India won freedom from British colonialism, on 15 August 1947, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a historic speech in which he called every Indian to work hard for the development of the country. Since then, India has made tremendous progress and has risen to the top of the global world. Recently, with the presidency of the G20 and the refusal to join NATO Plus, India has shown its confidence to become a global leader.
Apart from becoming the 5th largest economy, India like any other nation, has its own challenges. To address these challenges, the government has come up with several initiatives, such as the Mid-Day Meal Programme (PM POSHAN Abhiyaan) and free education policy to make sure that children are well-nourished and well-educated to empower the nation.
Children: The future of India
Children are the next generation that will contribute to the progress of the country. Therefore, investing in children is crucial for their well-being and thus to become productive members of society.
Understanding this, the Government of India is implementing the Mid-Day Meal Programme (MDM) in government and government-aided schools to address the issue of classroom hunger. If children don’t receive adequate nutrition, they cannot concentrate in their classes, causing poor learning and low academic performance. When children receive nutritious meals from their schools every day, it will enhance their attention span, making them sit in the class attentively. It also lowers the risk of health issues such as stunting, wasting and anaemia that usually affect during childhood.
So, nurturing children by giving them the right environment for learning and growing is crucial for building sensitive and sensible citizens for the future.
Feed for the freedom
Freedom combined with responsibility is the path of progress. So, with freedom, each individual has the responsibility to uplift the underprivileged. People, especially children from rural areas, are more vulnerable to undernutrition. Their financial limitations may prevent them from accessing their fundamental rights to good food and education. Thus, they may have limited opportunities for defining their career. MDM programme ensures that no child is left behind in pursuing their dreams.
Freedom safeguards human rights
There are numerous NGOs in India that work tirelessly to ensure that no child is denied their fundamental rights. They can work successfully only if they get the support from everyone. For this, one must change their attitude from a charity-based approach to a right-based approach and support the disadvantaged community because everyone has a social obligation to protect the rights of each individual.
So, freedom should go hand in hand with ensuring dignified livelihoods for all and this is how justice prevails and real peace begins.