The Akshaya Patra Foundation recently inaugurated its latest kitchen Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It was inaugurated by Anandiben Patel - Chief Minister of Gujarat and Vasuben Trivedi - Minister of State Women and Child Development, Government of Gujarat accompanied by other dignitaries. At the event, Anandiben Patel expressed her support towards the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal programme and said that she believes that Akshaya Patra will fulfil the goal of making Gujarat a malnutrition free state. She also said that the Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal programme is providing nutrition for a healthy mind and body for numerous children and that Gujarat Government will all the needed support for this endeavour.
This Akshaya Patra kitchen is a centralised facility and is one of the largest in the country. It is constructed across three levels based on the concept of gravity flow. The facility in Ahmedabad has replaced the Akshaya Patra kitchen in Gandhinagar. This Akshaya Patra kitchen is equipped with a roti making machine with the capacity of churning out up to 60,000 rotis per hour, along with rice and dal silos, cold storage and other equipments like boilers, rice cleaning machines and the like. Apart from a full-fledged kitchen for the mid-day meal programme that can cook up to 200,000 meals in a span of five hours, it is also equipped with a full-scale bakery facility to produce wheat-based items for the beneficiaries. It is estimated to feed mid-day meals to 121,508 children in 666 Government schools across Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar districts.
It was the coming together of many generous donors that aided on the construction of this kitchen. The Hans Foundation was the principal sponsor and supported the construction of this Akshaya Patra kitchen by contributing towards capital expenditure, meal distribution vehicle and equipment cost. Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) was the co-sponsor who contributed towards kitchen equipment. The land for this Akshaya Patra kitchen was donated by Chimanlal Agrawal and family, and Nandlal Agrawal and family.
Managing Director of The Hans Foundation, Sweta Rawat, in support of Akshaya Patra’s cause said that mid-day meals provide the needed nutrition for the overall growth of a child and it also acts as a stimulus for them to attend school and continue their education. Hans Foundation aims to support and improve the quality of life for the students and is glad to be a part of Akshaya Patra’s cause.
Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of Akshaya Patra expressed his gratitude to the Government of Gujarat and thanked all the donors for their valuable contribution towards this project and the mission of feeding 5 million by 2020.
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