(REOPENS MDS8)

Noting that the government apparatus has it ownlimitations, the President said social issues can only besolved with the involvement of people. "The first and foremost requirement is food. Therefore tomy mind this is a commendable job which has been initiated bythis foundation and which has been contributed, funded andsupported and provided with government and many otherorganisations," he said. Lauding the efforts of the foundation which started withserving food to 1,500 children of neighbouring schools everyday in the year 2000 to serving 1.5 million children per dayat 26 locations in 10 states, Mukherjee said people shouldjoin such initiatives in whatever small ways possible. The foundation has so far served two billion hot meals tochildren in over 12,000 schools across the country with thecost coming to about Rs 1,600 crore of which Rs 900 crore hasbeen borne by the central and state governments and theremaining by supporters of the programme. "We may criticise, we may write articles … but problemswill not be solved. Problems will remain as it is staring atus. If we come forward and make a contribution in whateversmall or meagre way, I am sure we will be able to solve manyof these problems," he said. "Thanks to our policy makers and the hard work of ourfarmers, we have been able to produce enough to meet ourrequirement but because of social structures and various otherinadequacies we have not been able to guarantee an assuredmeal to each and every citizen of this country," he said. The President said the Constitutional requirement offree, compulsory and universal education had to wait till 2009to be fulfilled when government passed the Act in this regardbut it only provides a legal framework. He said such an initiative also requires a conduciveatmosphere which is possible with the involvement of people. The President attended serving of meals to some childrenand also paid a visit to ISKCON temple here. The function was also attended by Minister of HumanResources Development Prakash Javadekar who highlighted theimportance of mid-day meal in schools. Sharing his experience of mid-day meals, Javadekar saidat some places the quality of breakfast is so good that itcannot be matched even with five star hotels. He said the quality of education has to improve andchildren must be fed. "We will improve mid-day meals whereverrequired and improve the standards where they are already verygood," he said. Other dignitaries present on the occasion includedKarnataka Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah, Union Minister for Statistics and ProgramImplementation D V Sadananda Gowda, former HRD Minister MurliManohar Joshi and Chairperson of Infosys Foundation SudhaMurty. PTI ABS KISAAR