Nestlé India Signs an Agreement with Magic Bus India Foundation

Gurgaon, Dec 18,2014: Nestlé India signed an Agreement with Magic Bus India Foundation on December 17, 2014. This initiative is on the lines of the Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme that focuses on providing nutrition and health awareness to adolescents.

The programme will reach out to 50,000 students aged between 10 – 17 years through government schools. The cities, where the programme will be running for a year, include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Magic Bus, which works on breaking the poverty cycle, one child at a time, will create a curriculum based on Sports for Development (S4D) approach, imparting knowledge about nutrition and a healthy, active lifestyle.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Etienne Benet, Managing Director, Nestlé India Limited, said, “ Being a leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness (NHW) company, Nestlé India intends to enhance the quality of life by creating awareness regarding nutritional health. In line with the already operational Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme, we intend to reach out to adolescents across metros in India. ”

The Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme is adapted in India to create and raise awareness regarding good nutritional practices and Mr. Benet added, “ The partnership between Nestlé India and Magic Bus, will promote healthy eating habits amongst children in government schools, basis food availability and accessibility in cities .”

Commenting on this, Mr. Sanjay Khajuria, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Nestlé India said, “ In India, we have done an assessment of nutritional needs in the community and want to create and raise awareness regarding good nutritional practices amongst children and adolescents. Through the Magic Bus partnership, Nestlé India will reach out to over 50,000 less privileged children in five metros within the span of a year .”

Looking forward to this collaboration, Pratik Kumar, CEO, Magic Bus India Foundation added, “ There is a strong synergy in the commitment towards better health and wellness of both the partners. Along with sensitising parents and teachers, this program will steer adolescent children in marginalised communities towards a life with better awareness and improved life skills, in the journey from childhood to livelihood .”

Talking about what the organization does, he added, “ The Magic Bus curriculum focuses on the domain areas of education, health and hygiene, gender, right to play and socio-emotional learning. Through the unique Sports for Development (S4D) approach and special interactive sessions, Magic Bus will ensure children and communities practice nutritious and healthy living and are aware of several health schemes and benefits offered by the government .”

For the Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme, Magic Bus will create and customise its existing curriculum into three major buckets with the objective of raising awareness on ‘Nutrition and Health’, ‘Getting Active’ and ‘Hygiene and Sanitation’ amongst children in government schools. It will identify and train youth mentors who will be responsible for implementing the sessions in these schools and train them to deliver the curriculum on the ground. The programme also intends to ensure that girls and boys get equal opportunities to play and learn. An awareness drive for gender sensitisation will form an integral part of the programme.