Among school-going children, hunger hinders their ability to achieve a fulfilling and productive adult life. Such children rarely attend school; they struggle to concentrate on their studies in class, and their dropout rates are significantly high. Providing meals in schools is part of a socio-economic justice initiative aimed at enhancing students' attendance, learning capacity, and self-esteem, as well as reducing dropout rates—ultimately leading to a reduction in hunger and malnutrition. In accordance with patriarchal and gender-based norms within the family, available food is allocated first to male children and subsequently to female children. Anaemic and frail, these young women—who have suffered from such malnutrition since childhood—account for a significant proportion of low-birth-weight pregnancies following marriage; this, in turn, leads to high rates of infant and maternal mortality, thereby perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty. Discrimination based on caste, class, religion, and gender remains a harsh reality in India. The Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme endeavours to alleviate poverty and mitigate socio-economic barriers, as children of all castes, religions, and genders sit together to share their meals. Regrettably, due to factors such as inadequate government support, widespread corruption, and hygiene-related issues, the implementation of the MDM scheme did not yield the expected results. Consequently, the Central Government has decided to relaunch the MDM—under the new name *Poshan Shakti Nirman* (POSHAN) scheme—with a renewed focus on alleviating hunger and improving the nutritional standards of students. However, without significant reforms, the POSHAN scheme, too, may fail to deliver the anticipated outcomes and fall short of fulfilling the objective of building a hunger-free India. Given the nationwide variations in child hunger and malnutrition, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive risk map—grounded in human-centric data and involving both communities and families—in order to gain a holistic understanding of the problem and devise effective solutions. The top-heavy model of PM POSHAN should be restructured in a manner that empowers and prepares all stakeholders to engage in the analysis, identification, planning, implementation, and monitoring of the project—measures that will aid in preventing child wasting, stunting, and other related issues. Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can be leveraged to detect, forecast, and prevent malnutrition, thereby helping to arrest India's declining trajectory in the Global Hunger Index and the Global Food Security Index.