Akshaya Patra organized two days training program on Mid Day Meal Scheme in Vrindavan

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, in association with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India, organized a two-day programme in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, entitled ‘Towards a Healthier and Stronger Tomorrow - An exposure-cum-training programme on smooth functioning of Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)’.

The programme was organised with an aim to enable an environment to debate and examine fresh perspectives on the MDMS. 24 Officials of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme from 12 states attended the programme.

With the MDMS currently reaching out to over 10 crore children, this programme also sought to identify, appreciate and absorb the various facets of the Scheme through transparent discussion between Government, NGOs and private sector on how the country can achieve milestones in the Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation invited esteemed speakers from social enterprises and consultancies, legal advisors, international motivational speakers and renowned journalists to give insights into issues that had linkages to hunger and malnutrition.

Gaya Prasad, Director (MDM), Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India gave an overview of the MDM Scheme, its evolution, needs, objectives, and way forward. Jagranjan Mishra, General Manager, Operations, Akshaya Patra, Gujarat, spoke on how Akshaya Patra’s Centralised Kitchens is a blend of innovation, technology and management.

Dr. Nitin Maurya, Innovation Officer, National Innovation Foundation, focused on the power of innovation, while Parvathi Menon, Managing Director, Innovation Alchemy Consultancy gave an insight into the hub & spoke model for Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Advisor to the Supreme Court of India on monitoring food security, Dr. Biraj Patnaik’s session on ‘Food a Basic Human Right’ highlighted that the Government should prioritise the issue of malnutrition, take learnings from cross-cutting examples such as Brazil’s Zero Hunger Program which successfully reduced the malnutrition rate from 46% to 4% and design similar interventions.

Dr. R Balasubramaniam, Founder, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement engaged the audience in an interactive session to understand the topic Collaborative Leadership – Challenges and Opportunities. The two-day programme ended with a session on media and the Mid-Day Meal by Pratap Somvanshi, Resident Editor, Hindustan.

Jasvinder Sehgal, a freelance international broadcaster and an integral part of the communications team at The Akshaya Patra Foundation coordinated all the sessions

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Excerpts from the Feedback

• “The training programme was very helpful to work with our society and it teaches us how to build bridges in the MDM ecosystem.” - Hemant Salunke, Superintendent, Ahmed Nagar, Maharashtra.
• “It is interesting, enlightening, inspiring and worth emulating.” – Gangadhar Sahoo, State Nodal Officer, MDM, Odisha.
• “This type of training programme should be organised frequently.”- N.N Barman, Project Director, CMDMP, West Bengal.
• “The training programme was very good and refreshing. It has given a lot of ideas for way forward. Thank You.” - Rajendra Dhakane, Superintendent, Latur, Maharashtra. 

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Akshaya Patra Foundation Feed Children to Increase Gender Ratio in Schools

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, whole heartedly welcomes Government declaration of coming up with a solution to address the problem of constantly declining child gender ratio in the country which is considered a serious problem.  It was declared on National Girl Child Day. Women and Child Development (WCD) Secretary Prem Narain said the Ministry is coming up with a national plan of action to improve child sex ratio through a concerted effort from most of ministries. 

24 January is celebrated as the National Girl Child Day every year since 2008 by the Government of India. The primary objective of the National Girl Child Day is raising awareness and consciousness of the society towards the girl child. Akshaya Patra is also supporting towards achieving this objective.

Akshaya Patra is feed children to promote education.  It has brought down school drop-out rate and increased attendance in general, particularly the girl’s ratio. As the well known saying goes “If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family (nation).”Akshaya Patra is doing its part in providing equal access to women by feeding them in school. By providing mid-day meal the Foundation plays an important part in reducing the drop-out rates from school and attracting the students to stay in school.

In many cases parents are either not able to send their daughters to school or are forced to take them out of school in the absence of resources. Story of Jaithun, three sisters, Deepti and many other indicate towards the same where parents were motivated to send their daughters to school for a bright future and also due to the temptation that food served was very nutritious, filling and healthy.  All these stories had something in common and that is awareness and willingness of the parents to send their daughters to school. Meagre resources of parents were the only hindrance. This obstacle was removed by Akshaya Patra. Its one wholesome meal served to the children shaded off the burden of parents.

By doing so Akshaya Patra is aiding to build an atmosphere where education of girl child is considered equally important and they are given equal opportunity to rise up in life.  It is supporting the Government’s objective that girls are born, loved, nurtured and grow up to become empowered citizens of this country with  equal rights and opportunities.

Akshaya Patra is grateful to all the girls and the parents who are sending their daughters to school and contributing in preparing the society where gender ratio no longer remains a matter of concern and it is ensured that every girl child is respected and valued in society.

Akshaya Patra Ranked 23rd among Top 100 NGOs by The Global Journal

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been named one of the Top 100 NGOs in the world by The Global Journal in its 2013 edition titled “Top 100 NGOs Annual Ranking”. The Global Journal is a unique content media platform providing in-depth coverage of global governance issues. It is edited by Société des Fondateurs de The Global Journal SA. It is best known for its well researched and in-depth stories.

For the Annual Ranking, The Global Journal considered a pool of approximately 450 NGOs this year based on three key criteria: impact, innovation and sustainability. Some very well-known and reputed NGOs such as BRAC, Action Aid, MSF, Path, etc share space with us.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a Bangalore based NGO in India. It implements the Mid-Day Meal programme in Government schools and Government-aided schools. The Foundation was started in 2000 and it is currently providing food to 1.3 million children across 9 states of India. The Foundation served its billionth meal since inception in 2012. Akshaya Patra aims to reach out to 5 million children by 2020 and steers its work towards achieving the vision of- “No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.”

Read more  @ Akshaya Patra Ranked 23rd among Top 100 NGOs by The Global Journal

Akshaya Patra Giving Wings to the Dreams of Young Girls

There is a spark in her voice and her eyes gleam with confidence. Raising her head high she says that she wants to join Police Force when she grows up. She is Bindushree, studying in Grade 7 of Government Primary School, Mahalaxmi Puram, Bangalore. She is eldest of the three sisters. Her two sisters Deepika and Kusuma are studying in Grade 5 and Grade 1 respectively in the same school.

Her mother is a house wife and father works as a construction labour. Her father is the only earning member of the family of five. Bindushree’s parents want all the three daughters to get educated. At this point Bindushree thanks all those who played the role of a catalyst in bringing mid-day meal to her school. She has heard her mother saying that the burden of managing one nutritious meal is shared by The Akshaya Patra Foundation. This meal also gives her the hope and the feeling that her studies will not be discontinued and she can fulfil her dreams, and alongside motivate her sisters to do the same makes her elated and self assured.

With an unwavering faith she says, “I am confident that I will be a Police Officer one day and will help enforcing discipline everywhere”.  Her teachers also reflect in a very positive manner about her ambition and feel that she will become what she wants to be as she is good at studies, hard working and well behaved.

Bindushree is happy child with a sense of responsibility. Being the eldest she owns the responsibility of guiding her younger sisters- Deepika and Kusuma. She helps them in their studies and for them she is the real source of motivation. Being motivated by her sister’s strong desire, Deepika also wants to be a Police Officer. They also have one more similarity and that is their love for dishes served by Akshaya Patra as part of its mid-day meal programme. Bisibele bhath, Tomato rice, Pulao and Sopasaru is the favourite of all the three.

Akshaya Patra through its mid-day meal programme serves 1.3 million children in 19 locations across 9 states of India. It gives differentiation to its menu catering to the regional tastes keeping intact the nutritional needs of the children. This healthy and nutritious food becomes an incentive which attracts many parents to send their children to school in the absence of adequate resource to feed their children.  Besides providing nutritious food it also acts as a positive measure especially for girl child by enabling them to continue their education.

On this day of National Girl Child Day and on behalf of all the girl beneficiaries, The Akshaya Patra Foundation expresses its sincere gratitude to all its supporters. It is your continuous support which has enabled feeding these children and motivating them to stay in school to continue their education. Thank you for aiding to build an atmosphere where education of girl child is considered equally important and they are given equal opportunity to rise up in life.

Indian NGO for Children Working Towards an Educated Future

The purpose of NGOs is noteworthy for the fact that they become a big source for implementation of various laws and rights that get approved in the Central level. For example: the Central Government of India initiated many schemes and rights under child rights and developments like Right to Education, Child Rights, Mid-Day Meal Scheme and many similar schemes. These are implemented by different Indian NGO for children. Health and education form the core purpose behind most of the child right schemes. Thus, there are many NGO for child education and health.

These NGOs are in fact countering many critical issues like poverty, hunger and malnutrition at the grass root level. While some Indian NGO for children are working towards education and health there are others like The Akshaya Patra Foundation that are working towards providing unlimited food for education by implementing the Mid-Day Meal programme for the children studying in Government school and Government-aided school.

It is an Indian NGO that is countering child hunger and illiteracy through its school lunch programme. Based at Bangalore, it operates in nine states of India and feeds 1.3 million children everyday. It aims to feed 5 million children by 2020 and for that it is strategically spreading its reach in other parts of the country too. It has been seen that the mid-day meal acts as an incentive to come to school thereby increasing school enrolment and reducing drop-out rate.

Though not an absolute NGO for children education, yet this Foundation lay substantial importance on education of children in India. This becomes the main reason behind the aim of reaching out to more and more children and serving them with at least one nutritious meal every day. This meal has positively impacted the level of concentration and academic performance among children. This is also a ray of hope for a hunger free and educated future.

All NGOs need help from the society to continue its effort towards resolving specific causes. Help could be in any form- partnership, sponsorship, donations or voluntary work. Donation should not be merely seen as charity rather it should be considered as a significant step taken for a better future. When you donate to Indian NGO, you are being a part and reason for a prosperous India. Join hands with Akshaya Patra and experience the delight of improving the lives of millions of children in India.

Akshaya Patra Foundation holding up the Dreams of Parents

Importance of education is well known to everybody. Though It is an established fact in the minds of common people that education gives them opportunity to grow and rise up in life, some of the parents find it difficult to educate their children because of their meagre sources. There are many such parents who have an ardent desire of educating their children so that they can live a good and prosperous life. But their limited resources seem to be an obstacle in their dream of educating their children; especially in those cases where it is difficult to arrange even for two square meals.

Akshaya Patra is supporting the dreams of such children by providing mid- day meal to government and government aided school children. It is serving hot and tasty mid- day meal to 1.3 million in 18 locations across 8 States. It is a single meal but it provides support to many families who find it difficult to arrange for nutritious meal for children. They happily send their children to school thinking that the school will not only educate them but will take care of their hunger and nutrition also.To some extent their burden is shaded off. In this way Aksahya Patra comes as a saviour of their dreams of educating their children.

This exactly relates to Nadan’s Mother. Nadan , a 12 year old young boy studying in class 5 of Government Primary school, Mahalaxmi Puram , Bangalore. His mother keeps visiting the school and talks to the teachers regarding her child’s education. She takes deep interest as she is aware that education can secure a bright future for her children. Nandan has two other siblings- one sister and one brother. His father is a construction labour who struggles to make ends meet for his family of five. Nandan’s mother finds it difficult to take care of the nominal expenses of the children, let go the expense on education. But she is determined to educate her children. So she decided to put Nandan in a government school. Nandan has heard his mother saying that it is difficult for me to put Nadan in any school other than the government school where one meal is also provided.

Nandan loves the meal served by Akshaya Patra. Like many other children Nandan, doesn’t like to eat vegetables. So he says there are a lot of vegetables in the curry served by Akshaya Patra as part of the mid-day meal programme. But then, his teachers in school and mother at home tell him the importance of eating vegetables and insist on having the same. According to the teachers, Nandan is a very quite happy and loving child. Desire of her mother, motivation of teachers and support of Akshaya Patra is giving Nadan a basic foundation of health and education and preparing him for a bright future.

Akshaya Patra Kitchen to prepare Food for Children using Indian Spices

Indian spices have a global popularity. They become the distinctive feature of Indian cuisine. Along with giving exotic flavour to the dishes, the spices have many nutritional and medicinal values. Every Indian cooking uses at least two or three different spices and so does Akshaya Patra. Here are the nutritional facts of some of the spices used in Akshaya Patra kitchen to prepare the mid-day meal.

• Spices like turmeric, mustard, cumin, coriander, black pepper and chilli are good source of various minerals like Calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, copper, zinc, magnesium and vitamins, B-complex vitamins, selenium, phosphorus, omega3 and omega6-fatty acids.
• These spices in general also have the properties of anti-inflammatory (painkiller), anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, antiseptic, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-carcinogenic.
• Spices are good source of dietary fibre and they do not contain cholesterol.
• Spice like turmeric is a natural antiseptic.
• Cumin in particular has sleep inducing property and also acts as relaxant. It helps in digestion, treatment of diseases like asthma, arthritis. It improves memory and overall mental function, and helps in recovery from amnesia.
• Black pepper helps the body remove harmful free radicals and help protect from cancers and diseases.

Mid-day meal- A Great Source of Nutrition Food for Children in India

“My ambition is to become a doctor so that I can help others and my mother.” For a young age of 12 it is indeed notable because unlike many aims at tender age, this aim has a noble purpose behind it. This is the aim of Deepti Haldhar, a student of 7th standard studying in Government Higher Primary School, Bangalore, Karnataka.

Deepti HaldharDeepti has three sisters and she is the second sibling. Her mother works as a domestic help and single-handedly supports the family. Initially Deepti attended English medium school and due to economical hitches she had to change and join the current school. Yet she never changed her mind from becoming a doctor. She possesses the valuable qualities of being confident, sociable and strong determination. Her compassion towards others in general and towards her mother in specific has made her even more resolute.

We feel gratified that we are able to serve such determined children with at least one fresh and nutritious meal. These children are the vital reason behind Akshaya Patra’s aim to reach out to more and more children across India. While talking about Akshaya Patra’s meal, Deepti describes it as, “tasty, healthy and hot”. She continues saying that, “I love the mid-day meal. Among all the items of Akshaya Patra menu, Bisi bele bhath (a native Karnataka dish made of rice, vegetables pulses and spices), tomato rice, and rice-sambar are my favourites.

With the support of Central and State Governments, generous Corporate and Individual donors and tireless effort of the Foundation has enabled it to provide mid-day meal to 1.3 million children currently. It implements the mid-day meal to provide food for the children studying in Government and Government-aided schools. It is currently operating in 19 locations across 9 states of India. The Foundation places equal importance to food and education and hence has taken up the intent to provide ‘unlimited food for education’ which is also in line with its vision of “No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger”.

For many children and parents, the mid-day meal becomes a huge incentive for coming and sending to school respectively. It acts as an assurance that the children will get one time meal and the goodness of education. It is this education that will help break the cycle of hunger, illiteracy and poverty.

Come ahead and be a part of Akshaya Patra to break this vicious cycle. You can make a choice of the many options available like: be a donor, become a volunteer, host a fundraising event, or spread awareness about the cause Akshaya Patra is working towards. Whatever your choice may be, it is rest assured that every bit of your contribution will certainly make positive impacts in the lives of millions of children in need.

Children NGO in India - Akshaya Patra Foundation

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a Bangalore based NGO in India that was started in 2000. Its vision is that “no child in India shall be deprived of education due to hunger”. It is indeed a thought evoking vision because it directly addresses the issues of hunger and illiteracy at the grass root level. Since inception the Foundation is tirelessly working towards achieving its vision. In the year gone by the Foundation celebrated the noteworthy feat of serving the billionth meal since inception. It was a great source of motivation towards the aim of feeding 5 million children in India by 2020.

The Foundation believes in providing unlimited food for education. Even though the primary area of work of this Foundation is providing mid-day meal, it is also a NGO in India for education. The reason behind it is the importance it gives to education of children. In fact apart from providing mid-day meal to the children studying in Government schools and Government-aided schools, the Foundation also has other initiatives like Vidya Akshaya Patra and Akshaya Life Skills Programme. Vidya Akshaya Patra scheme is like an after-school tutorial where students who score less than 35% marks are given guidance and training. Through Akshaya Life Skills children are equipped with various developmental training like self awareness, interpersonal skills, creative and critical thinking, communication and dealing with different situations that children encounter.

Akshaya Patra can be considered as children NGO in India as most of its activities revolve around child development. Through its mid-day meal programme the Foundation is aiming at countering two critical issues of hunger and illiteracy by providing food and education during the formative years of the children of India. Apart from these initiatives it also has Akshaya Anant Scholarship Programme to help children that helps children with funds for higher studies. The main motive behind it is if the children of today are healthy and educated then it is certain that it will lead to a prosperous and bright future.

It is true that there are many NGO in India for children, and Akshaya Patra is one of them too. But the difference lies in the fact by 2030 it does not want to exist in future. As spoken by the founding member of Akshaya Patra, Mohan Das Pai on the occasion of celebrating the billionth meal, “this organization is the only one of its kind that does not want to exist in future because it envisions a future that does not require it.” These words not only instill inspiration but also reinstate the mission in a more profound manner.

Akshaya Patra has strategically grown over 12 years. It is currently operating in 19 locations across 9 Indian states. As an NGO in India, It looks forward to reach out to more and more location so that it can provide at least one nutritious meal to children of India and thereby keep their hope for a brighter future intact.

Join Akshaya Patra Foundation to Provide Food for Children in India

When children are fed well, it shows in their physical and mental growth. The children will be more energetic and playful and more importantly they will be happy.

This happy state of mind will enable them learn and explore which will help in their academics. As is stated by MFK Fisher, “First we eat, then we do every thing else.” It is a fact too. Hunger is at all level but the sooner we can address it, the better. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is one such initiative implemented by Government of India to provide food for children in India.

 The Akshaya Patra Foundation under the aegis of Central and State government implements this scheme by providing mid-day meal to children studying in Government and Government-aided schools. By doing so, it also helps in countering hunger at the root level. The Foundation is working towards a future that will be hunger free and educated. It believes in providing unlimited food for education. One nourishing meal has a big impact on the health and growth of children, and especially for those who are in need.

Many instances and testimonials of the beneficiaries of Akshaya Patra’s meal have brought to fore the hard truth that the mid-day meal more often than not is their only full meal. While it is providing food for Indian children, it is also helping the children to remain in school and get educated so they grow up to be responsible and able citizens- able enough to feed their family. The mid-day meal has contributed in positively in various ways. It has increased enrolment in schools and also has been able to reduce the dropout rates.

A stomach that’s full can concentrate better- this factor is evident among children. Studies indicate that the health and general growth of children have also shown considerable improvements. The success stories of the beneficiaries are a great motivating factor for Akshaya Patra. It works in Public-Private Partnership model. Apart from Government support, it is supported by Corporate and Individual philanthropist.

The help of generous donors has been an integral factor. Smile of a child is the most wonderful gesture and everyone has the potential to bring this smile. Come ahead and donate for children. It will not only satiate their hunger but it will also bring them to school. Your support will bring a welcome change in the future. When you contribute towards food for children in India, you are actually taking a significant step towards countering hunger and illiteracy.

So, when you do food donation for children, you are actually guiding the children of India towards a successful and bright future.

Akshaya Patra Foundation Mid Day Meal Bringing Children back to School

Mid-Day Meal Scheme is an initiative of Government of India to tackle childhood hunger. Under this Scheme, free lunch is provided to children of Government schools. The Akshaya Patra Foundation under the aegis of the Central and State Government runs its mid-day meal programme in 19 locations across 9 states of India. Currently the Foundation is serving 1.3 million children across India and it aims to feed 5 million children by 2020. 

The mid-day meal programme has many positive impacts. Studies show that this programme has increased school enrolment rate, countered classroom hunger paving way for better concentration and learning, and decreased drop-out rate. Mid-day meal has also helped in bringing the drop-outs back to school. Here are the anecdotes of three children that testify the potential of mid-day meal in bringing drop-outs back to classroom. Their teacher says, “Apart from our efforts to bring them back to school, the mid-day meal provided by Akshaya Patra has played a vital role in bringing these children back to school. When parents send their children to school they have one hungry stomach less to feed. Without the mid-day meal programme, these children could not have realized their potential.”

Rajeshwari’s comes from a humble background. Her father owns a meat stall and mother runs a small dosa stall to earn for the family. She introduces herself as Raji. Raji dropped out of school because she had to take care of her younger siblings. She was then studying in Grade 1. With innocence she says “I used to tender change at the cash counter.” Just a few months ago Raji got back to regular schooling and now she is a Grade 4 student. 

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Ashok and Uday have similar stories too. At an age when they both needed parental care and affection, they had to play the caretakers role. Ashok went to his sister’s house to take care of his niece. Uday, on the other hand lost his mother at an early age and hence was forced to quit schooling and play the role of a care taker. But the relief lies in the fact that today both of then are back to school.  Being a good athlete Ashok has brought many laurels for the school and Uday is brilliant in his academics and is a top scorer in his class.

Parents of these children and many such children are relieved that their children will at least get one wholesome meal in the school. Stories like these are the factors that motivate Akshaya Patra to tirelessly increase their reach out to more locations to feed the children in India. Help Akshaya Patra spread its mid-day meal programme to reach out to more and more children. Donate towards a noble cause. Your donation will be a gift to many children, for they will get back their school life. 

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Akshaya Patra Foundation Promoting Education by Feed the Children in India

An Article In Times Of India says that India is expected to miss the crucial UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG), including those related to reduction in poverty, hunger and infant mortality, according to a government report. It indicates-

• While India is expected to lag behind on health indicators, the performance is up to the mark on education front. 
• It is expected to meet the target to ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike will be able to complete a full course of primary education.
• "Achieving universal primary education is round the corner," the report said.
• The data shows that the country is well set to achieve 100% primary education for children ahead of 2015.
• "Gender parity has already been achieved in primary education (in 2007-08 itself) and the disparity in secondary education is set to disappear by 2015," the report noted.

As for education these are really very motivating and pleasing facts. If  we are on the right track as far as education is concerned all other stations can be reached sooner or later. It instils hope as value of education is well recognized. Advantages of education are not hidden from any one. Be it individual growth or the growth of the society and nation. At the same time it is the single answer to so many socio economic problems. Be it... malnutrition, illiteracy, child labour, preventable diseases, abuse & exploitation, unemployment, social evils or hazard to environment. Here we can rightly quote Mr Nelson Mandela who said that "Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world."

Government has done their part in setting the basic framework of education by opening schools, making education free and by doing other related arrangements. Many awareness programmes through different channels of communication have been run.

Akshaya Patra is contributing in this direction by promoting education by feeding the school children. Akshaya Patra is the world’s largest NGO running mid–day meal programme providing hot and nutritious meal to school children. By providing food Akshaya Patra is attracting children to come to school and also reducing the dropout rate from school. Akshaya Patra’s single meal becomes an incentive for these children and contributes in increasing the attendance. Here the role of Akshaya Patra is very crucial as to make use of the education facilities provided by various government and non government organizations.

Akshaya Patra started their operation by feeding 1500 children in five schools of Bangalore now it has scaled up to 1.3 million children through 19 centres across 9 states of India. This is done through centralized and decentralized model of kitchens. Through centralized kitchen it feeds the children of urban and semi urban areas on the other hand decentralized kitchen is meant for the interior areas which have difficult terrain. Endeavour of Akshaya Patra enables the education to reach many and to the far flung areas.

Gullu, a child from tribal area  of Orissa got attracted to school just because of food. Now he walks five miles per day and attends the school. There are many such stories where parents allowed their children to join school because of Akshaya Patra’s mid day meal.

All this good work has been possible with the collective effort of many. Let this continue and with more vigour so that Akshaya Patra can feed many more children  and support in building the future of India.

Akshaya Patra Helping To Keep Alive Many Young Aspirations

If we trace back 12 years, we will encounter many changes across all industry types- be it health, education, industry, communications or any other sector. In these 12 years, there has been a significant change in the lives of millions of children too. This particular change is the result of the tireless efforts by an Indian NGO.

This NGO provides the most basic need- “food” to the children in India by implementing the Mid-day Meal programme in Government and Government-aided schools. With a humble beginning back in 2000, this NGO today feeds 1.3 million children across India. It has also been honoured as the world’s largest NGO-run mid-day meal programme. This is the growth story of The Akshaya Patra Foundation based in Bangalore.

“No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger”, is the vision Akshaya Patra is working towards. It has set itself a mission of reaching out to 5 million children by 2020. A milestone towards this mission was achieved in August 2012 by serving the billionth meal since inception. The many smiles, hopes and dreams of million children are the chief factors that keep up the motivation of the Foundation. These children are the reason for the Foundation’s existence and purpose. There are many anecdotes that depict the power of one meal that keeps alive the aspiration among these children. Here is one such anecdote:

“I want to become a Civil Engineer. I want to construct a Five Star Hotel” - these are the words of an enthusiastic and determined 12 year old.

Santosh A is a 7th standard student studying in Government Higher Primary School, Bangalore, Karnataka. He comes from a humble family of three- mother, elder sister and himself. His mother works as a domestic help to support the family and his sister is studying in 9th standard. The hardships back home has not shaken his aspiration to become a Civil Engineer. An account of his teacher states that- he is a very cheerful, active and confident child. His “ever ready to learn” quality will aid him in achieving his dreams.

Santosh is an Akshaya Patra meal beneficiary. When asked about the meal he immediately lists out his favourites – ‘Rice-sambhar, pulao, and bisibele bath’. These are few items of the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal menu. He goes on to say, “I don’t have breakfast as my mother goes to work early. The school lunch provided by Akshaya Patra is my first 1st meal of the day. I love the meal and wait for lunch time eagerly.”

This mid-day meal is a huge incentive for the children to come to school. Apart from being an assurance that the children will get at least one nutritious meal per day, it also enriches them with the goodness of education. This validates how Akshaya Patra’s effort in providing mid-day meal to children in need is actually working towards countering two major issues- hunger and illiteracy.

Indian NGO| Akshaya Patra Working Towards Millennium Development Goals

Every year begins with fresh promises and new challenges. It also makes us aware of our achievements and yet to achieve goals. The release of a recent government report in Times of India has brought to fore India’s status on achievement of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015. The report included details of poverty ratio, child mortality rate, malnutrition, and education rate.*

Akshaya Patra mid day meal programme beneficiariesIndia’s account was a mix of achievement and yet to achieve goals. Beginning with the achievements, the report stated that “India is likely to achieve 100% primary education and gender parity among children ahead of 2015. Achieving universal primary education is round the corner. With regard to gender parity the report states that it has already been achieved in primary education (in 2007-08 itself) and the disparity in secondary education is set to disappear by 2015. Yet, when it comes to poverty ratio, child mortality, hunger and malnutrition India is lagging behind and is likely to miss out on reaching the target figures. The report is indicative of the fact that even though we will miss out achieving the crucial development goals, India has shown a considerable improvement.”*

This is where The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s role becomes more evident. Akshaya Patra is an Indian NGO based in Bangalore that is working towards achieving a hunger free and educated society. It implements the mid-day meal programme and provides food to children studying in Government and Government-aided schools. It is the world’s largest NGO run school lunch programme. Through this programme Akshaya Patra is countering two critical issues – hunger and education. It is also in accordance with the objectives of the Government Mid-day Meal Scheme:

    avoid classroom hunger

    increase school enrolment

    increase school attendance

    improve socialization among castes

    address malnutrition

    women empowerment

Currently functioning in 19 locations across 9 states, it provides food to 1.3 million children on all school working days. This programme has bought visible improvements in the health of the children. Below are a few instances of the impact Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal programme had on the children:

 Principal of Government Higher Primary School Mangalore, Juliet Pinto states that “During health camps that are conducted thrice a year, the health supervisor found all the children to be healthy except general flu and common cold.”

   

A teacher in a small village school of Bukkasagara (Bellary) says, “Many of my students hail from families of quarry workers. The health of the children has tremendously improved after regular food was being provided by Akshaya Patra.”

   

Assistant Head Mistress of Government Higher Primary School- Ashokapuram (Mysore), Geetha Lobo says, “Prior to Akshaya Patra’s intervention through the mid-day meal programme, some children used to faint from hunger, but that’s no longer the case. The strength of the school has improved since food started being served here. Now, they attend classes regularly and concentrate better during lessons”.

   

School in-charge of Rehmani Model Senior Secondary School Jaipur, Nazia Tazeem says, “The health of the children was a major concern. Today the mid-day meal in the school provided by Akshaya Patra has a positive impact on the children’s health. The mid-day meal has helped reduce drop-out rate and increase attendance and enrolment among girls.”

Madhusudhan Mahapatra oversees Akshaya Patra’s de-centralized kitchens in Nayagarh, Odisha. He says, “In a state where nearly 46.8% of the population lives below the poverty line (Orissa has one of the highest figures for child mortality in the country)**, with high rates of child malnutrition, the fact that their children will get good food proves to be a strong catalyst for parents to send them to school. There has been an improvement in enrolment and attendance since the time Akshaya Patra started implementing the mid-day meal programme in the schools.”

**Food Security Atlas of Rural Orissa, 2008, a report by the UN World Food Program and the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi

Rourkela Steel Plant joins hands with Akshaya Patra Foundation

New year bought a new development between Rourkela Steel Plant and The Akshaya Patra Foundation. As a part of CSR initiatives Rourkela Steel Plant has joined hands with Akshaya Patra. This development is towards providing mid-day meal to about 45000 school students in Rourkela Municipality area along with Lathikata and Bisra Blocks.

P.K Pradhan- GM (TA & CSR) Rourkela Steel Plant and Chanchalapathi Dasa- Vice Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation signed the agreement of this new development in the due presence of G.S Prasad- CEO, Rourkela Steel Plant.

For the smooth running of the project, a centralized kitchen will be built in Rourkela. This kitchen will have the capacity of cooking 50,000 meals on a daily basis. It will be a replica of existing kitchen model with the assurance of keeping intact the hygiene, nutrition and freshness of every meal. 20 custom built vehicles to keep the food hot and fresh will transport the food to the schools.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is already operating similar kitchens for the mid-day meal programme in 9 states of India benefiting millions of children. This new development is a noteworthy one in itself.

Akshaya Patra Foundation Kitchen visit by Medak District Collector

Honourable District Collector & District Magistrate of Medak- Sri A Dinakar Babu, along with Tahsildar, Patancheru Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) and other team members made a visit to our kitchen facility in Hyderabad. Sri Raja Hamsa Dasa, Operations Manager, took the visitors around the campus and explained the complete process of our kitchen operations.  

Sri A Dinakar Babu was very impressed with our programme. He addressed the media people and appealed to encourage and give good support to the Foundation.  Responding to media questions he told that, “We are planning to extend the programme in other Mandals also including Medak District.”

After visiting and understanding the kitchen process, Sri A Dinakar Babu said, “I was impressed by the cleanliness and hygienic way of cooking.  It is indeed a boon to the 62,000 children studying in schools in Medak district. As a Collector & DM it is my endeavour to support such initiatives like Akshaya Patra....”

More information about Akshaya Patra here...

Akshaya Patra Mid Day Meal Making School a Joyful Place

“Good faculty, affiliated board or curriculum, ranks of the graduated batch, management, fee structure, extra-curricular activities and courses, school ranking” are the most general lookouts while enquiring and selecting a school. But, these need not be the only criteria. Surprising it might sound but Chatrapathi Shivaji School, Sandur Taluk, Bellary district of Karnataka scored more than a neighbouring school just for the fact that the lunch served here is better. Indeed remarkable.

Chatrapathi Shivaji High School was established in 1950 and is a Government-aided school. The Primary and Higher Primary section was introduced later. There are 453 students in the Primary and Higher Primary section and they all come from humble backgrounds. Their parents work as labourers in the agriculture and factory set-ups.

Of the mentioned strength, a considerable 150 are Lambani children. Even though they have to walk 5 kilometres extra, these children chose Chatrapathi Shivaji School, over a neighbourhood school solely because of the quality of the lunch provided. These students are Akshaya Patra mid-day meal beneficiaries. Akshaya Patra is providing mid-day meal to this school for past 6 years. The children say, “The sweet given in the mid-day meal is our favourite.” The meal is always served hot and fresh and this is the chief reason the children love of the meal. It is a routine practice that before serving the food to the children, the teachers will taste it. So, if someday there is any feedback the teachers inform the route boys. The teachers requested for more variety in the meal.


Bosappa, Principal of Chatrapathi Shivaji School says, “I have seen the kitchen facility of Akshaya Patra and also had a chance to see how the food is cooked.” He said mid-day meal was provided during the summer vacation too due to the drought situation that prevailed in Bellary. When asked, “Do these children only come to eat the mid-day meal during their vacation?” He said, “During the vacation these children come to school in the morning and play till afternoon. At noon they have their meal and then go back home.”

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Happiness of Akshaya Patra Foundation Mid Day Meal Kitchen Process

The state-of-the-art kitchens of The Akshaya Patra Foundation have a character of their own. Of the many factors that derive its character, the most significant is – “the journey of a million smiles begins here”. These kitchens not only cook food for 1.3 million children; but they also cook a serving of happiness with each meal. This is the reason we call our kitchens “The Happiness Factory”.

There is a story behind every meal we cook. In order to continue this journey of smiles, Akshaya Patra ensures that there is no compromise on quality and hygiene at any point, right from procurement of raw materials to delivery of the hot nutritious food. Kitchens of Akshaya Patra employ various measures to ensure hygiene, quality, and variety of meals of served, along with increasing the efficiency of kitchen process. Some of the key measures are:

To ensure fresh food is supplied, efficiency concepts such as Kaizen, 5S and Six Sigma are adopted at the kitchens, which also results in increased capacity of producing up to 1,50,000 nutritious meals a day.

To ensure cost effectiveness, food items like grains and spices are sourced through central procurement teams, while perishable food items like vegetables, fruits and dairy products are sourced locally.

To ensure that the food is prepared hygienically, Total Quality Management (TQM) tools are used to comply with the ISO 22000:2005 Food Safety and Management System Standards.

Furthermore, hygiene is ensured through minimal human handling of food.

Meals are prepared as per regional preferences ensuring, that the nutritious food served is also tasty to the palette.

Desserts and sweets are served during special occasions – a sweetened rice pudding- Pongal, in South India and a milk based dessert, Kheer is served to the children in North India.

At Akshaya Patra, the commitment to perform with precision has become plausible through technical marvels such as:

Rice cauldron that cooks close to 100kgs of fresh rice every 20 minutes.

Sambar cauldron has the capacity of 1200 litres that can feed 6000 children.

27 varieties of sambar recipes are available for the children.

Vegetables in the sambar are minced thoroughly to make it chewable for the tiny tots.

The roti making machine that can produce up to 60,000 rotis in an hour.

Pilferage avoided through monitoring the delivery of the food to schools. Global Positioning Devices (GPS) 

have been installed in the meal delivery vehicles.

Vehicles are heat insulated, dust free and can deliver 1,50,000 meals within 6 hours