A two-day visit to Tripura was made by Mr Santosh Allath – National Coordinator, Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust & Mr Subhajit Roy Mukherjee, Regional Coordinator, Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust to attend the Launch Program of the Pilot Project of combating malnutrition amongst children of Tripura with the distribution of SaiSure – A Multi Nutrient Malt Based Health Drink.

The two-member team on the first day got the opportunity to visit Ms Chandni Chandran, IAS, Director of School Education, and State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan in her office. She mentioned the collaborative possibilities of expansion to scale-up, post an Impact Study of the first pool of children having SaiSure for the first three months with their BMI & Haemoglobin being monitored every month. Later she was felicitated on behalf of the Trust as a gesture of appreciation towards her support and initiatives in furtherance of the Pilot Program. The Trust members also met the Hon’ble Education Minister of the State, Mr Ratan Lal Nath Ji, later in the evening, who enquired about the methodology implemented to monitor the impact of SaiSure supplement on the children and was also keen to understand the extent of scale-up. The hon’ble minister was felicitated as a token of gratitude on behalf of the Trust.

The Launch Program was organized on the 16^th of December 2021 at the Fatik Charra TE S/B School in Mohanpur Block of West Tripura. The Pilot Program has been conceived to embrace 1491 primary Govt school children in West Tripura District & Unakoti District of Tripura. Over 600 children attended with their parents at the event which was honoured by a host of Government officials! Presided by the Hon’ble Education Minister, Mr Ratan Lal Nath ji along with the Special Guest Hon’ble MLA, Mr Krishna Dhan Das and Ms Reena Deb Burman, Chairman Mohanpur Panchayat Samithi along with the esteemed members of the Panchayat Samithi of Fatik Charra and Mohanpur! With the mellifluous patriotic Bengali songs being played around the school campus and hundreds of children running and playing with joy, the air was filled with an outpour of happiness!

Mr Arjun Sharma Ji, OSD (On Special Duty), commenced the session with an inaugural Speech post the invocation song and dance by the school children. Mr Sharma played a pivotal role in coordinating the entire event. As delegates made their remarks, Mr Krishna Dhan ji was awestruck and remarked what a Trust can achieve if there is a right intent to serve the nation. He congratulated the Trust and narrated the other initiatives of the Sathya Sai Fraternity into health which is offered totally free of cost. On behalf of Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust, Mr Subhajit Roy Mukherjee made his remarks in the local language of Bengali conveying gratitude to the Govt of Tripura and the Hon’ble Ministers and the present dignitaries for their support and narrated the glorious mission of serving children of the nation with the vision of “No Child Should Go To School Hungry Ever”. Mr Mukherjee shared the Free of Cost Model of the Trust and its willingness to expand and reach out to more needy children with the support and collaboration of the Government!

Hon’ble Education Minister, Mr Ratan Lal Nath in an interactive session during his speech and in discussion with the Trust Members expressed his desire to continue this most meaningful program to 10000 children of Tripura specially for the schools in the tea estates in a phase wise manner. He guided the Trust members to coordinate with Mr Arjun Sharma Ji to plan out a workable model to support most needy children to combat nutrition and ensuring nutrition and immunity amidst Rural Children of Tripura! The minister offered SaiSure to the Children with his own hands much to the delight of all! As they were all overwhelmed with the initiative, they were very appreciative of the taste of the drink! The children smilingly and happily said they will be regularly having the new health drink. The Trust members returned with a note of assurance to sending regular supplies within the timelines of the month as well as the guidelines to monitor the impact clinically!