Taking Up The Challenge Of Eradicating Malnutrition

Mahesh, an alumni of PESIT, as a student of seventh semester, read an article in Frontline magazine which quoted a report on malnutrition. The UNICEF report rated mal-nutrition in Pakistan at 5%, Bangladesh 5%, Nigeria 5% and India at a whopping 42%. Mahesh says, “Coming from a small town like Tumkur, PES was the place where I got the confidence to challenge the problems of Real world, which bigger organizations like UN and WHO are fighting.” The exposure to international and national level conferences and guidance from faculty inspired Mahesh to take up social entrepreneurship along with research. He wanted to do something about the serious effects of mal-nutrition: death at a very young age, loss of memory, poor mental growth and slowing of a nation’s growth rate. Mahesh felt that as an engineer one has to take up such challenges. In 2010 he started growing Spirulina, researched on it and used expert advice from Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysore. The unique nutritional qualities of spirulina makes it a potent dietary supplement to save kids from malnutrition. Once he started growing Spirulina, Mahesh felt that the task of reaching it to malnourished kids in the remote villages is critical for his mission to tackle the problem of malnutrition. With all his perseverance and hard work, today he ensures that Spirulina reaches hundreds of villages in seven districts in Karnataka and some outside the state. He looks forward to support from the student community in raising funds and creating awareness about the need to ensure availability of Spirulina in remotest villages. Mahesh is getting more corporates to join hands and raising the issue with state and central governments. His aim is to eradicate malnutrition from earth.