India has been successful in ensuring that its population has access to food, but it has failed to ensure that it includes the necessary diversity in the types of food available. Despite being self-sufficient in a number of food crops including rice and wheat, which are among the national staples of the country, hundreds of millions of Indians have poor nutritional health. Micronutrient deficiencies are common in India, mainly as a result of a focus on calorie availability and not dietary diversity. Poor water management and subsidies that encourage wasteful practices in agricultural production could come to present a threat to Indian food security.
Aimed at fighting this challenge Vijnana Bharati (Vibha) and Global Indian Scientists’ and Technocrats’ Forum (GIST) have come together to launch the mission called ‘Aahar Kranti’ with the motto of ????? ???? ????? ????? (Uttam Aahaar Uttam Vichaar) or `Superior nutrition, superior thought’. Union Minister of Science And Technology, Earth Sciences And Health And Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan will launch this new mission on April 13, 2021. The mission is aimed to spread the message of the need for a nutritionally balanced diet and to understand the importance of economically accessible local fruits and vegetables.
The `Aahar Kranti’ movement is designed to help deal with the peculiar problem being faced by India and the world by what can be called as `hunger in abundance’. Studies estimate that India produces as much as two times the amount of calories that it consumes. However, many in the country are still malnourished. The root cause of this strange phenomenon is a lack of nutritional awareness in all sections of our society.
There is a need for a nutritionally balanced diet also in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. A healthy body would be able to handle the infection much better with greater immunity and higher resilience. This may not be the last of the pandemics. More such can emerge in years to come.
The United Nations has also declared 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, which vibes very well with Aahar Kranti. Fruits and vegetables make a large part of a balanced diet. Further, the UN sustainable goal #3 that emphasises on human well-being reads, “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” This goal too makes Aahar Kranti more meaningful. Diet and well-being are inseparable partners.
India has the unique advantage of having the knowledge of Ayurveda. It is time to also apply this rich knowledge of Ayurveda based nutrition to practice. The movement will work on this too.
The Aahaar Kranti mission will work on multiple dimensions simultaneously. In terms of objectives, it will seek to promote better awareness, better nutrition and better agriculture
The programme will focus on training teachers, who, in turn, will pass on the message to the multitudes of students, and through them to their families and finally the society at large. Such a strategy was adopted for the eradication of Polio and it turned out to be a grand success
The movement proposes to address the current situation of hunger in abundance by working to rouse the people to the values of India’s traditional diet, to the healing powers of local fruits and vegetables, and to the miracles of a balanced diet. It will renew the focus on nutritionally balanced diets – ????? ??? ??????? ???? (Uttam avem santulit aahaar) replete in locally sourced fruits and vegetables.
The programme will focus on training teachers, who, in turn, will pass on the message to the multitudes of students, and through them to their families and finally the society at large. Such a strategy was adopted for the eradication of Polio and it turned out to be a grand success.
Vijnana Bharati (Vibha) and Global Indian Scientists’ and Technocrats’ Forum have aimed to set Aahaar Kranti as a model for the entire emerging world to follow. India has remained the world leader or Vishwaguru for ages, and in case of diet and nutrition, it has led several path breaking efforts in terms of science, technology, and innovations. The new movement will add to that.
The mission will work on multiple dimensions simultaneously. In terms of objectives, it will seek to promote better awareness, better nutrition and better agriculture; the messages will be imparted through the curriculum in the form of ‘what’s and ‘why’s of nutrition, or through the forms of games or as instructions such as ‘how to’; and the content will be provided both online and offline and in all vernacular languages besides English and Hindi to reach out to as many as possible.
While Vijnana Bharati (Vibha) and Global Indian Scientists’ and Technocrats’ Forum initiated the programme, several other agencies have also joined hands and have agreed to pool in their expertise and resources. Union Ministry of Science and Technology’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)’s Pravasi Bharatiya Academic and Scientific Sampark (Prabhaas) and Vigyan Prasar (autonomous body, Ministry of science & technology) is collaborating and various central and state government ministries and agencies are involved. More organisations are in the pipeline to join the Mission as it proceeds.
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