A plastic container of 7 cm diameter and 8 cm height holds 100 grams of roasted groundnuts that provide 570 calories and 26.5 grams of proteins. A 150 grams 1:1 mixture of roasted grams and puffed rice (kurmura) would provide the same. Akshayapatra is the name given to this groundnuts and puffed rice filed container.
       Seeta saw the golden dear and was tempted. Food seen through the bottle tempts the children.
       Everybody should have the freedom of taking from the Akshayapatra. Akshayapatra anytime must be refilled full before its contents are fully consumed. Anyone who bit by bit consumes contents of this Akshayapatra over a day apart from his daily food gets etra 570 calories and 22 grams of proteins and gains weight in one month. This closes 15% of food gap of an average malnourished person, extra needs of pregnant and lactating mothers and growing children. This is one solution to the problem of food gap.

TABLE I:- Table showing puffed rice, roasted grams and groundnuts satisfying extra needs of everyone.  
                                                                     Energy (K calories)        Proteins (Grams)         
Akshayapatra                                              500        22        
15% deficit of an average man.                450        17        
Extra needs of pregnant mother            300        6         
Extra needs of lactating mother              600     12 to 15           

     
TABLE II:- Table showing energy provided by each food for Rs 1.     (At 1992 prices)            
                                                                     Energy (K calories)        Proteins (Grams)         
Soyabeen (100 Gm)                                      420        42        
Groundnuts (50 Gm)                                    260        11        
Grams (67Gm)                                              250        15        
Rice (150 Gm)                                                450        10        
Milk ( Undiluted 100 ml)                               67          4         
Milk ( 1:1 dilution 100 ml)                             35          2         
Milk without cream(100 ml)                        20          2         

       
      Mothers are advised to keep their children’s pockets filled with roasted groundnuts and puffed rice round the clock and they show weight gain in one month.
A sick child does not eat.

1)   He starves, becomes malnourished and irritable. This child may eat nothing else but he eats roasted groundnuts and grams and puffed rice. This reduces starvation, subsequent malnutrition and irritability. The child who eats improves faster.
2)   In URTI, constant munching of roasted groundnuts, grams and puffed rice causes salivation and cleaning of throat. This reduces throat irritation, coughing and vomiting. The Eustachian tube also opens and helps patients of otitis media.
3)   In diarrhoea, food and fluid is major treatment salted and roasted groundnuts, grams and water act like O.R.S.
4)   In clinic, when food from Akshayapatra is offered to every child coming to clinic, he becomes doctor’s friend and cooperates better. He insists to come to the same doctor again.
We get drug reactions. We still use drugs. Similarly accidentally many foreign bodies including groundnuts are aspirated. But we need not give them up. To play safe, one can offer puffed rice and grams to infants and toddlers and groundnuts to bigger children.
In 1996, 100 grams of equal parts of a roasted grams and salted groundnuts were given daily for 3 months to about 500 malnourished children of migrating Adivasi workers, studying in the temporary schools opened near the brick kilns. In this period, every child gainedweight by ½ to 1 ½ Kg. Their illnesses reduced and the sick childen recovered. This project based on our idea was done in Thane district by Mr Vivek Pandit’s ‘Shramajivi Sanghatana’. The cost was about 2.50 Rs per child per day. This experiment proved that Akshayapatra is treatment of malnutrition. It is also the vaccine against malnutrition.

     At Joshi Hospital, Virar, we have an Akshayapatra for the staff. Now all the staff members are gaining weight and quality of their work has dramatically improved.
We also have Akshayapatra for each patient. We fill used plastic saline bags with puffed rice. All sick children above 6 months of age eat from it round the clock and recover faster and stay happy. Mothers also eat from the Akshayapatra when the lunchbox or breakfast is delayed. This eliminates their ‘Hypoglycemia induced’ irritability.

    Roasted grams, puffed rice and roasted groundnuts are cheaper and should replace all other food items in schemes like ICDS. They are available in every village and need not be manufactured at one place and transported to 7 lac villages in India.

    Like Polio let us eradicate malnutrition with snack filled pockets.

    Each house must have an Akshayapatra that will feed every one. It is our weapon in the war against malnutrition.