Six out of 10 children are undernourished in India. Malnutrition accounts for 50% of the child death in this country’. A report on the state of food insecurity in rural India, states that more than 1.5 million children are vulnerable to malnutrition because of the raise in global food prices.

Chronic undernutrition in childhood is linked to slower cognitive development and serious health impairments later in life and reduce the quality of life and also the economic productivity of people.(Scrimchaw 1996). Hence malnutrition is not only the effect but is also a cause of poverty.

Just a few minutes remained for lunch break but Santosh could wait no longer. There are hardly any words to describe the eagerness in the 7th standard student’s eyes as he looked out of the window, waiting for his lesson to be over. As the clock struck noon, Santosh along with his friends, ran into the dining area, ready for piping hot food. It was their favorite Akshaya Patra’s rice and sambhar today.

Plush luxury juxtaposed with abject poverty, rich elegance surrounded by a need for bare human necessity.

That is contradiction of India today. Poised to become a global superpower, with a 7 % annual growth rate (one of the highest in the world), it has a rapidly expanding economy that will create a projected 200 million jobs in the next 20 yrs.

Yet the lack of basic facilities facing millions of the nation’s people can hardly be ignored. Rural India is home to some of the poorest people in the globe.