Aahaar Kranti: Awareness and Participation

Yelloji-Rao Mirajkar
BACKGROUND
A ahaar Kranti is a national movement to raise awareness on the importance of a nutritionally balanced diet in our lives starting
from the Embryonic till the End-of-life (E-to-E). The nutritional needs of a growing embryo and that of a baby during the lactating
phase are met solely by the mother's diet - what she eats, how she eats, and how much she eats. Both knowledge from traditional
practices and scientific data from modern equipment and methods suggest that while the mood of the mother would influence the
growth of the to-be-born baby, the physical health and the mental wellbeing of the mother, supported by a nutritionally balanced diet,
help in delivering a healthy baby with minimal or no complications to either the mother and the baby.
Starting from the embryo, it takes about 21 years for the growth of the brain and about 24 years for its
functional maturity. When a child passes the breastfeeding phase close attention needs to be paid for fulfilling the
balanced nutritional needs (macronutrients, micro -nutrients, minerals, vitamins and spices) because they are
essential for growth of the brain and associated development of cognitive skills (core skills that the brain uses to
think, read, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention). With the help of such skills, incoming information is
received and moved into the bank of knowledge as “learning” and used later as “performance” every day at school,
at work, and in life. Later in life such a mind would be able to develop and inculcate skills such as critical and
analytical thinking, complex problem solving, leadership and social influence etc.
To fulfil these needs, an ecosystem should be in place involving mothers, family members, and the society. The
society needs to support and strengthen the efforts of the mothers and the family members for fulfilling the needs
through making available food items with a balanced nutritional diet. Caveat here is to recognize that locally
grown food items are the best compatible items that fulfil the needs.
Dietary risk
Dietary risk is among the fastest growing factors in India, about 4.0% in 2014 to over 10% in 2019, primarily due
to cardiovascular, diabetes, and kidney diseases. These numbers are further increasing due to increased rates of
cancer, tumour, etc. which are due to increased consumption of ready-to-eat and prepacked foods having
chemical preservatives used for enhancing their shelf life. Researchers are finding more and more evidence that
suggests cancer is a man-made disease caused due to use of more artificial and synthetic chemicals in our food.
As we make transitions to different phases of our life (childhood, teenage, youth, adulthood, and old age) and the
longer we adopt a nutritionally balanced diet, the longer we could live and that too being healthy. Otherwise, the
onset of diseases due to dietary risks could take place earlier while we are still young; and by the time symptoms
become prominent and detectable it would be too late. Lots of research studies have shown direct evidence in this
regard. Awareness of a balanced nutritional diet is the first step and practicing it daily is the secret for a healthy
long life.
Post Green Revolution
The major crops cultivated in India till 1960s were rice, millets, sorghum, wheat, maize, and barley. The production of
rice and millets were higher than wheat, barley, and maize combined. The varieties of millets were probably the highest
compared to the rest of the world.
The Harit Kranti (Green Revolution) initiated in the 1960s and led by agricultural scientist Dr M.S. Swaminathan increased
food production by introducing high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat; and by leveraging agricultural research and
technology, per capita net availability of rice increased from 58.0 kg/year in 1951 to 69.3 kg/year in 2017. Similarly,
availability of wheat increased from 24.0 kg/year to 70.1 kg/year.
The Shweta Kranti (White Revolution), known as Operation Flood, an initiative by India's National Dairy Development
Board (NDDB) launched in 1970, transformed India from a milk-deficient nation into the world ʼs largest milk producer. By the
end of 1985, domestic milk powder production increased from 22,000 tons in the pre-project year to 140,000 tons.
Together both Harit Kranti and Shweta Kranti have alleviated poverty and hunger in India to a large extent. The
measures initiated by the government and the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and groundwater resources increased
the production of rice, wheat, pulses, and other crops leading to the self-sufficiency of food in the country.
However, mismanagement and overuse of chemical fertilizers, pesticide, and lack of crop rotation made the land
infertile,
Aahaar Kranti Awareness and

Participation
and loss of groundwater became a common occurrence in agricultural areas resulting in increased expenditure
on the cultivation of crops.
More significantly, the Green Revolution destroyed the diversified gene pool available; production of millets
has gone down and crops that were once consumed in every household became a fodder crop. In tune with that,
per capita net availability of other cereal grains such as millets and pulses have also decreased over the years. This
has led to the change in the consumption pattern over the years and a shift in focus from the minor cereals and
pulses to the major cereals, rice and wheat. A number of traditional rice varieties have become non-existent, and
the availability of local (indigenous) rice varieties have decreased to about 7000. Thus, India has lost more than 1
lakh varieties of indigenous rice after the 1970s that took several thousands of years to evolve. This loss of species
is mainly due to the focus given to production of subsidized high-yielding hybrid crops and the emphasis on
monoculture.
Ayurveda: Hidden secrets for healthy long life
The values and benefits hidden in Ayurveda and the practices that our elders followed for generations in our
homes need to be unearthed. Each and every aspect of Bharat including the timeline, pearls of wisdom for
peaceful and coordinated existence, and importantly Ayurveda, need to be re-established.
During the first wave of the pandemic, the world's eyes were on India because the severity of its impact was far
less compared to many of the economically advanced and developed countries. Researchers around the world
speculate and attribute this to the immunity that Indians have developed over the years through their lifestyle
and diet that consists of various foods, spices, the cocktails of herbs known as kashaya, kada, etc. Most important
part in the Ayurveda diet is the understanding of food items and their compatibility and incompatibility
(Viruddha aahaar) which the western diets lack. The food pyramid that is widely referred to in the world suggests
meat and animal products as the primary sources for protein. However, in India more than a third of the
population are vegetarian and many of their parents and grandparents have lived long beyond the age of eighties
and nineties without consuming any meat products. A considerable section of the population in the world is
slowly turning into vegan, which is about 10% now and anticipated to increase in the coming decades. Therefore,
there is an urgent need to construct a food pyramid that includes vegetarian options for protein and must list
compatible and incompatible foods.
An important piece in the puzzle of awareness is also to motivate the research fraternity across the world and
generate data by conducting studies to dispel any myths and doubts on Ayurveda principles and help build
confidence in the practice of it in our daily life. Traditional medicine systems embrace the natural defence system
of the body and help in curing the root cause of the disease. The combined benefits of Allopathy, Homoeopathy,
and Ayurveda could be adopted for a healthier and longer life. We must aspire to have food that would work as
the medicine.
The last piece in the puzzle is also to increase awareness in the academic institutions, research organizations
(food, processing, nutrition, etc.) and departments and ministries for developing programmes and policies and
provide support with budget and resources. These will support the production of food items in India that are
required for consumption in the country and reduce the burden of importing them.
That will be the success of Aahaar Kranti.
To spread the message of the need for nutritionally balanced diet and to understand the importance of economically accessible local
fruits and vegetables, Global Indian Scientists’ and Technocrats’ Forum ( GIST) and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA) have come together and
launched vkgkj Økarh (Aahaar Kranti) with the motto: mÙke vkgkj mÙke fopkj (Uttam Aahaar Uttam Vichaar). Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Pravasi Bharatiya Academic and Science Sampark ( PRABHASS), Vigyan Prasar (VP) and many
other organizations have joined to participate in this great initiative that is so critical for New India. Many details about the Aahaar
Kranti are available at www.aahaarkranti.org.
Aahaar Kranti is meant to renew our focus on nutritionally balanced diets – mÙke ,oa larqfyr vkgkj (Uttam aivam santulit
aahaar) replete in locally sourced fruits and vegetables. It is meant to train our teachers, and through them the multitudes of
our students, and through them to their families and to the society. While Aahaar Kranti is starting in India, it sets a model for
the entire emerging world to follow and establishes India as a Vishwaguru.
Aahaar Kranti was launched on the day of Varsh Pratipada or Vaisakhi, 13 April 2021 by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union
Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and was joined by various central and
state government ministries and government agencies.
We request your help and association as we go along in our mission.
9
july 2021 / dream 2047

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Yelloji-Rao Mirajkar

Aahaar Kranti Awareness and

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