The Ponty Chadha Foundation works to Keep Malnourishment at Bay

Malnutrition is defined by a lack of some or all nutritional elements essential for human health, and in India alone, children are the most visible victims of malnutrition. According to the latest UNICEF data, in India, one in three children is malnourished while 58% under the age of five are underweight or stunted. It might also come as surprise that in a survey conducted by the World Bank, one in three malnourished people in the world reside in India. In another study published by UNICEF, 68.7% of Indians survive on less than INR 124.00 a day.

India ranks 68th out of 79 countries in terms of malnourishment and hunger according the Global Hunger Index (GHI) and was among only three countries where the hunger situation actually worsened in the last few years (from 22.9% in 1996 to 23.7% in 2011), behind other developing nations such as Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In olden times, it was fair to attribute malnutrition to widespread and frequent famines. However, in the present day, the production of food has increased dramatically and better means of agriculture are made available, but ironically, malnourishment has correspondingly increased. Studies make it abundantly clear that lack of enough food production is not at the root of the problem, but as majority of the experts agree, it’s that food does not reach the people most in need. It has become less of a production issue and rather a problem of the food supply chain.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation is looking to distribute food and help ease the problem of malnourishment through the concept of food banking. To this end they have partnered up with the reputed India Food Banking Network (IFBN) organising campaigns under the Ghaziabad-Noida Food Bank banner to distribute food to the poor through frequent free food drives in the villages around Noida and Ghaziabad. At present, the scope of the program is limited to the NCR region, but there are plans to extend the reach of the program to cover the whole of the country to further Mr. Ponty Chadha’s vision of a progressive India.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation for the Underprivileged

Philanthropy can bring about socio-economic changes at the grassroots and the Ponty Chadha Foundation has exemplified that. Incepted for creating parity across the board, the foundation has been working towards malnourishment eradication, special education, betterment of medical facilities, and food & nutrition accessibility to fringe demographics.

The charity is the vision for making philanthropy a distinctive culture in India. It works towards that goal through subsidiary setups which have come together under the PCF umbrella and work in unison.

The Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan (MBCN), a pivotal facility of the foundation, looks at providing holistic care for differently abled children. The institution holds special curriculums and is equipped with a core of trained faculty professionally adept for specific disorders. MBCN aims at meeting cognitive and nutrition requirements for autism, cerebral palsy, stunted growth, visual and hearing impairments, and other disorders hindering natural growth. The charity-driven school directs a greater part of its funding towards collaborating special physical, cognitive and nutrition needs.

Special education and child malnutrition are two of the most definitive causes the Ponty Chadha Foundation stands for. The foundation has gained momentum over time as sensitization on the issue picked up, but a lot of grounds need to be covered to pull India’s steep child malnutrition ratedown, which is currently behindsome of the most impoverished countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The drive to make food more accessible fundamentally has seen the Ponty Chadha Foundation earning the collaboration of the nation’s food banking authority, the Indian Food Banking Network (IFBN). IFBN fosters sustainable food chains reaching out to underprivileged demographics, and teamed up with the foundation, the collaboration has seen Noida in Delhi NCR get its first food bank. The bank is essentially an end-to-end supply chain for procurement and delivery of food supplies and quality control.

Working towards restored societal balance requires branching out extensivelyand with increasing demographic coverage and social initiatives, the Ponty Chadha Foundation is adding meaning to the hope of the hundreds of thousands of needy, who deserve to be reached out the soonest possible.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation: Aiding Food Banking in India

The economic downturn may well be done and dusted, but the spins-offs are yet to be a thing of the past. A tight finance and stretched out economy, and a sizable population from the developing world struggling to make ends meet is very much a part of the ground reality.

Food shortage in particular, has scaled up to a much bigger global problem, with one of the most pervasive offshoots being malnutrition.  With prevalent food shortage, supply chains sourcing from public to private resources can be quite resourceful to fill up a growing demand for food.

A major chunk of the food supplies come from what is termed as a ‘food bank.’ Donated food comes into the bank from multiple sources across the value chain--businesses, schools, religious charities, or organised drives. The guiding principle to food banking is accumulation of surplus food with standard quality controls. Food banks essentially channelize accrued food to the people in need. Most supplies are collected by member subsidiaries which then go through the process of warehousing, packaging, and eventually ensuring delivery. The delivery channels can vary, but charity organizations remain the fundamental drivers of the food banking system. Typical food collection facilities can be member charities, food drives, soup kitchens, or subsidiary chain of accumulation channels.

In India, food banking is on the way to establishmentunder the Indian Food Banking Network (IFBN), an umbrella setup which envisagesthe coming together of sustainable food chains across the country. The organisation drives food down a chain of subsidiaries through to the grassroots. The supply sources vary between voluntary donations, government aid, and funded purchase.

Aiding IFBN to greater ground coverage in Delhi NCR is the Ponty Chadha Foundation (PCF), a charity institution dedicated to the cause of social welfare and upliftment. The foundation has pioneered a number of undertakings that reach out to the underprivileged with aid going out in different forms.

Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan (MBCN) looks at the challenges of differently abled children by specially designed curriculums for cognitive stimulation and growth. In its role as a special school, MBCN fosters holistic child development, all the way up to providing rehabilitation of children fighting disabilities like cerebral palsy and autism.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation is boosted by a line of tie-up with NGOs and other charity organisations working towards, and guided by the common cause of, advancing social welfare. The guiding principle to the Ponty Chadha Foundation is all but a means to that end.

MBCN is a charitable school which is empowered by The Ponty Chadha Foundation

This image was clicked on February 6, 2014 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi during one of the Hero Hockey India League (HHIL) series matches. Here, the students of Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan (MBCN) got the opportunity to meet Bollywood superstar John Abraham. The children brought with them self-made paintings as gifts for the Bollywood star and he reciprocated by signing autographs for them. The children were delighted to meet their favorite Bollywood hero.

MBCN is acharitable institute which works in line with The Ponty Chadha Foundation, a charitable trust working towards the betterment of the socially marginalized and neglected sections of society.

The school caters to the educational needs of differently abled children; fostering equal growth opportunities while helping them to be economically independent and self-assured.

At one of the matches of the on-going HHIL Hockey tournament, Delhi Waverider’s team received avid support from some special fans, the students of Mata Bhagwanti ChadhaNiketan (MBCN), when they recently attended a match at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.

Prepped with cheer-flags and banners, the children of MBCN had a great evening cheering their favourite team. This image was taken at a pivotal moment when all eyes were glued to the field.

All children are differently abled students that MBCN helps with their tutelage. This charitable school was conceived in 1999, after which ‘The Ponty Chadha Foundation’ was conceived to serve this cause and many others.

The differently abled children studying at the Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan (MBCN) School recently got a chance to enjoy an HHIL hockey match. The children were at the Major Dhyan Chand National stadium on February 6, 2014 where they got the opportunity to meet B-town celebrity John Abraham. These are some students posing for the camera, delighted after an interaction with him; he also autographed some of the paintings that the children had brought as gifts for him.

MBCN, a school for the differently abled children, has been facilitating several such events in order to give children with special needs personal interaction with their role models. It is a charitable school working in line with The PontyChadha Foundation, a charitable trust established by Mr. Gurdeep SinghChadha (Ponty Chadha) of the Wave Group.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation Sponsors the International Badminton Tournament at Lucknow

January 26, 2014, Lucknow: On the occasion of the 64th Republic Day, the finale of the Syed Modi Badminton Tournament, sponsored by the Ponty Chadha Foundation, was organized at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium.

The event, which was held on January 21, 2014, saw its closure with India winning the Women’s League. In this tournament, the Indian star player and Olympic bronze medalist, Saina Nehwal, bagged the coveted trophy. This was her first victory in the finals in the last fifteen months. Her win in the semi-finals was a sure-shot sweepstake for her as P V Sindhu (India) was to contend against her in the finals.

Though PV Sindhu arrived with some victories against top-class opponents and even landed a bronze at the World Championships last year, badminton enthusiasts waited with bated breath to watch her showdown with Saina Nehwal. The opportunity came during this tournament, which was the first international meeting of the duo. PV Sindhu, who earlier lost twice to Saina Nehwal in the Indian Badminton league, suffered a straight-game defeat though both differ only by two seeds in the international rankings. Besides the Women’s Single, India could not make up in any of the other leagues and lost to China in the Men’s Single, Mixed Doubles, Men’s Doubles and Women’s Double.

The tournament was sponsored by the Ponty Chadha Foundation in light of encouraging the sport. A sum of USD 120,000 was spent in organizing this well-received and well-attended event.

About the Ponty Chadha Foundation

The Ponty Chadha Foundation has been working towards alleviating various social impediments, and encouraging the welfare of society. It has been actively working towards eradicating hunger through the Ghaziabad & Noida Food Bank project by organizing various drives and facilitating many similar events. The foundation also fosters education for the mentally disabled children through its special school, the Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan. Moreover, it actively promotes sports such as Hockey and Badminton in the community.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation - Organized an event to help alleviate hunger and malnutrition

The Ponty Chadha Foundation recently organized a seminar where eminent social workers discussed the pressing issue of hunger and malnutrition that is rampant in India.

The event was held at the Grace Care NGO located in Sector 3, Noida. Also in attendance, the seminar saw the participation by many prominent NGO’s and charity organizations that are active in the NCR.

During the course of the seminar, hunger related issues pertaining to poverty were discussed and all who were present unanimously agreed upon the fact that food banking has the potential to be a revolutionary concept to tackle the age-old problem of poverty and malnourishment in India. The summit drew to a close by everybody agreeing to work towards eradicating hunger and malnutrition in India by the year 2020.

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The Ponty Chadha Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated towards eradicating poverty and social anomalies among the people in India. It works towards alleviating hunger amongst the poor people of the rural areas of NCR through a joint establishment with the Ghaziabad & Noida Food Bank. In addition, the foundation has put in place various programs for the betterment of the mentally disabled, improving the health of the poor and also encourage young children belonging to the lower strata of society to actively participate in sports.

As a part of the Ponty Chadha Foundation’s mission to consistently help and aid those who are less fortunate than us, it sponsored blankets for 200 students from 3 schools in Ludhiana. The children who received the blankets come from economically weak families; some of them are affected by the tribulations of child labour while others were disabled. Mr. Manpreet Singh Chadha (MontyChadha), Vice Chairman of the Wave Group and who was a driving force behind the program, was present at this occasion and personally handed out the gifts to these children.

Swami Vivekananda Vridh Ashram, an old age home in Ludhiana, Punjab, received gifts of food products and sweets from the Ponty Chadha Foundation. Mr. Manpreet Singh Chadha (Monty Chadha), Vice Chairman of the Wave Group, graced the occasion with his presence and handed out grants to the staff of the old age home. The Ashram, a non-profit organization working for the care of the aged men and women who live there, was pleased to receive the aid.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation is a charitable organization and is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the Wave Group. It has been actively undertaking philanthropic endeavours that are unique in the way it tackles the problems of poverty, malnutrition, mental disability and other physical ailments of people in India.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation Takes On Poverty at the Grassroots

Hunger is a massive problem in most developing nations and India, in particular, is one of the worst affected nations globally in terms of food distribution and poverty. Although a governmental welfare system of rationing food supplies is in place which caters to low income families, as for most of those living below the poverty line, this system is not adequate. Various studies have reported India as just slightly higher than the poorest of the poor nations in the world. The World Bank states that as many as one in three undernourished and poverty stricken people of the world reside in India. 

The problem lies with the fact that many of the welfare programs and food distribution drives are unable to reach out to majority of people in need, with bribery and corruption failing even the most well-intentioned efforts. This is largely why India ranks 68th out of 79 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI) and starvation rate actually increasing from 22.9% in 1996 to 23.7% in 2011. 

The news is not all bad though. The Poverty Development Goal Report has said that almost 320 million people in India are on their way to being lifted out of poverty by 2015 and that out of all the South Asian countries, India is the only one that is on the right path to halving the poverty rate by the target of 2015. 

Helping to meet this demanding target is the Ponty Chadha Foundation, established in the memory of Mr. Gurdeep Singh (Ponty) Chadha; which established the Ghaziabad-Noida Food Bank in collaboration with the reputed India FoodBanking Network (IFBN). By putting in place concrete steps to ensure welfare of poor people through free food programs, the foundation aims to enhance the lives of those below the poverty line in villages around Ghaziabad and Noida, and helping out people in the vicinity of its Wave City projects near NH-24, Ghaziabad.