Millet Mornings: When School Snacks Went ‘Shri Anna’

Just after eight in the morning at a government school in Visakhapatnam, the playground smells faintly of ghee instead of dust.

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Representative image.

Before the first bell rings, children line up for a small but carefully planned snack — a warm millet upma one day, a crunchy chikki the next. For 49,000 students across the city, breakfast now begins with "Shri Anna", the government's new name for millets, rather than with an empty stomach.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, already the world's largest NGO-run school meals provider, has rolled out a millet-based Morning Nutrition Programme in Vizag. The idea is simple: many children arrive at school without eating; a quick pre-class snack can stabilise energy levels, improve attention and make the eventual midday meal more effective. Each serving of the new snacks delivers roughly 150-235 calories and up to 9.6 grams of protein, using ingredients like millets, peanuts, roasted chana and puffed rice.