Millets, the high fibre, protein-rich smart foods, can help to enhance the nutrition profile of mid-day meals in schools, said the Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Talking to UNI, Arjunnath Dasa, Head Communication of Akshaya Patra Foundation-Vrindavan, said the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Programme has been traditionally dominated by rice and wheat, and while these grains have undeniably been a blessing for millions of children across the country, the time has come to look beyond them, to enhance the nutrition profile of mid-day meals.

He said Millets can help in achieving this objective and the Foundation has recently initiated the 'Integration of Millets in Mid-Day Meals,' in partnership with the Government of Karnataka, as a pilot initiative. According to Mr Dasa, the initiative covers 1,622 beneficiaries across 10 schools in Bengaluru, Karnataka, at present. He said, ''In Hyderabad, with the support of the Government of Telangana, ready-to-consume millet-based items have been introduced in all our beneficiary schools, serving 1.5 lakh children.

''The purpose of integrating millets as part of the MDM Programme is to contribute to the enhancement of nutritional status and health of the beneficiaries, by providing them diversified and nutrient-rich meals. ''This will be done by creating recipes that cater to cultural and local palates of the regions where we serve,'' he said. ''In 2016, Akshaya Patra initiated the 'Rice Fortification' programme. As part of this initiative, rice is fortified with seven essential micro-nutrients, in order to enrich our mid-day meals.

''As of FY 2017-18, the Rice Fortification Programme has been initiated in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh; Ahmedabad, Gujarat; and Mangaluru, Karnataka. In the near future, we plan to extend the benefits of fortified rice to all our beneficiaries across India,'' he added. ''Akshaya Patra will diversify its meals, based on the food preferences of our beneficiaries, so that they get more variety and a change of taste in the meals. Consequently, we aim to maintain beneficiaries' interest in the mid-day meals and continue to ensure their proper growth and development,'' said Mr Dasa.