A report on supplementary food to children

K Sarath Chandra

The above bar diagram shows the supplementary food served to children belonging to below poverty line in various states of India. The Central government had launched many schemes to provide nutritious food to the children.

One such scheme is Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), a unique primary social welfare scheme to tackle malnutrition and health problems in children below 6 years of age.

Special Nutrition Programme (SNP) is an another such scheme framed on the similar lines of ICDS with the same objective.

Since their launch, the two schemes ICDS and SNP have been successfully providing 300 calories (with 8-10 grams of protein) every day to all children below 6 years of age.

The four northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh-94.4%, Sikkim-93.80% Mizoram-91.80%, and Nagaland-82.40% are far ahead than rest of the states in terms of supplying nutritious food to children.

The other four northeastern states like Assam-73.50%, Tripura-77.60% and Meghalaya-79.80% too have done reasonably well, with Manipur being the only state which is lagging behind with 44.90%.

The BIMARU states like Bihar-52.60%, Madhya Pradesh-68.20%, Rajasthan-55.60%, Uttar Pradesh-40.60% have fared poorly in taking these schemes to the public. Madhya Pradesh being an exception, as it has shown some progress.  (The term BIMARU was coined by an economic analyst Ashish Bose in the mid-80s for the four backward northern states to describe their bad state of economy.)

Later, Odisha was included in the list resulting in BIMAROU. Odisha’s performance level in delivering the supplementary food is at 69.90%.  (Several studies, including those by the UN, showed that the performance of the BIMARU states affected the GDP growth rate of India.  Some of these states are also a part of Red Corridor (The areas facing Naxalite-Maoist insurgency). Since some of these states have now started to advance faster than some of the developed states, the concept of BIMARU is starting to become outdated.)

Even a trouble-torn state like Jammu and Kashmir has done well with 91.50%. But Punjab which is also called as Granary of India has shown dismal performance with 59.10%. Its neighbouring state Haryana too has fared poorly with 51.90%. Narendra Modi’s development work in his state is also reflected in the implementation of these schemes, with Gujarat registering 86.50%.

Among southern states, Karnataka is in the forefront with 80.40%, followed by states like Tamil Nadu-75.80%, Kerala-75.80% and Andhra Pradesh-73.70%.

The Union Territories too have not shown much progress with Daman and Diu registering 54.70%, followed by Delhi, the national capital with 56.40%, Puduchery-56.70%, Dadra and Nagar Haveli-60%, Chandigarh-68%.

The remaining states like Maharashtra registered 69.60%, followed by Goa-73.40%, Himachal Pradesh-77.10%, West Bengal-78.30%, Uttarakhand-81.90%, Chattisgarh-85.60%, Jharkhand-88.30%.

Thus, the Centre has introduced schemes like ICDS and SNP to improve the nutritional and health status, to lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical and social development and also to reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity and malnutrition among children.

Theosophical Society: A spiritual-cum-research centre

Theosophical Society, Chennai

K Sarath Chandra
Chennai: The Theosophical Society in Adyar is a lovely spot for the visitors to gain knowledge as well as to spend their leisure time, as it provides them a peaceful retreat from run of the mill activities of their day-to-day lives. It is spread over 260 acres and has a church, mosque, Buddhist shrine and a Hindu temple, symbolising its secular nature.

The Theosophical Society was originally founded by HP Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in New York City, USA in 1875 and in 1883 Madras was chosen as the World Headquarters of this spiritual movement and it was moved to Adyar, Chennai.

As a young woman, Blavatsky travelled all over the world in search of wisdom about the nature of life and the reason for human existence. Eventually, she brought the spiritual wisdom of the East and that of the ancient Western mysteries to the modern West, where they were virtually unknown. Her writings became the first exposition of what is today known as modern theosophy.

Colonel Henry S Olcott, a prominent lawyer and journalist, became the first president of the society. Olcott related the timeless wisdom of theosophy to the cultures of both East and West, applied it to everyday life, and built the society into an international organisation.

Madame Blavatsky died in 1891, leaving Colonel Olcott and English social activist Annie Besant as the principal leaders of the international movement based in Adyar, and William Quan Judge heading the important American Section.

The Theosophical Society aspires to educate the public about the principles of theosophy through publications, public programmes, and local group activities.

The objectives of the society include:
1) Formation of a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without a distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.
2) To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science.
3) To investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.

The society also believes in theory of karma, reincarnation and immortality. 

The Theosophical Society has started many schools such as The Olcott Education Society, The Olcott Memorial School, The Olcott Memorial High School which provides free education, uniforms, books, and two daily meals to impoverished rural children in Chennai.

Its library has an immense collection of books on religion and philosophy, some of which are on display, from 1,000-year-old Buddhist scrolls to intricate, handmade 19th-century Bible.

Adyar Library

“The Theosophical Society also has a Publishing House of its own. Recognising their spiritual link with Adyar, theosophists have chosen February 17 as Adyar Day,” says S Harihara Raghavan, general manager of Theosophical Society.

It also has a beautiful garden called Huddleston Gardens. A tranquil walk in the garden and its lush greenery is sure to win the hearts of the visitors. It is a popular getaway of the locals, escaping the urban mundaneness of their lives. Carpeted with greenery and blooming flowers, the garden is filled with birds breaking into a melody, squirrels playing peekaboo, fruit bats lurking about, wild cats, mongooses and hares scattering around the mahogany tree.

Big banyan tree

The garden is also a home to migratory birds, snakes, jackals and a variety of spiders. A 450-year-old banyan tree is a special attraction in the garden with its roots covering 60,000 square meters, looking majestic and stately and is locally called as Adyar aala ma’am.