Every year, 1st November is observed as Kannada Rajyotsava. On this day, in 1956 all the Kannada speaking areas of South India were merged into a new state, Karnataka. Initially, the state was called Mysore, but this was considered too reminiscent of the old princely regiment, and the name was changed to Karnataka on 1st November 1973. Kannada Rajyotsava is celebrated with unified enthusiasm all over the state and across all age groups, religion, gender, and income groups. The state flag adorns all important locations, and the state anthem reverberates all day long. It is a day to celebrate the progress and development of the state. To praise the good deeds of local citizens, the State Government bestows the Rajyotsava Award on people who have contributed toward the well-being and development of the state in a noteworthy way.
Just as the entire state celebrates Kannada Rajyotsava with much fervour, we at The Akshaya Patra Foundation, pay our sincere tribute to this state – the birthplace of our Foundation. We began our service to children in June 2000 by providing mid-day meal to 1,500 children across five Government schools in Bengaluru. Since then, there has not been any looking back. Today, we feed more than five lakh children in 2,841 Government and Government-aided schools every day, from our six specialized centralised kitchens located across the state - H.K. Hill (Bengaluru) feeds 87,882 children in 508 schools, Vasanthapura (Bengaluru) feeds 1,01,541 children in 646 schools, Ballari feeds 1,26,932 children in 577 schools, Hubballi feeds 1,52,423 in 807 schools, Mangaluru feeds 17,024 in 139 schools, and Mysuru feeds 23,450 in 164 schools.
But, this operational expansion in Karnataka has been possible mainly because of the steadfast support we received from the Government of Karnataka along with benevolent donors and charitable corporates. We sincerely thank every stakeholder for their constant support and hope this support continues as we look forward to feeding thousands of more children who are still waiting for their share of the wholesome mid-day meal.
This Kannada Rajyotsava, let’s pledge to eliminate classroom hunger
from all the schools of Karnataka
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