PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates Akshaya Patra’s 62nd kitchen in Varanasi

 

Food is a basic essential for the development of children.
Food and education always go hand in hand.
When a child is well fed and educated, s/he becomes able to pave his future.

Government’s intervention to feed children

NITI Aayog has identified certain districts of India with a high level of malnutrition. To support children in these areas and all over the nation, the Government of India started the PM Poshan Abhiyaan which was earlier known as the Mid-Day Meal Programme.

It was mandated in 2001 that every child studying in Government, Government-aided schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres receive school meals as a part of this programme. The name of this Mid-Day Meal Scheme was changed to Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Scheme (PM POSHAN Abhiyaan) in September 2021. This programme has shown positive effects. 

Parents who were not able to afford sending their child/ren to schools due to their financial constraints eagerly sent their children for the free nutritious food being supplied. 

Benefits of mid-day meals

• ·         Nourishes children
• ·         Improves immunity
• ·         Makes children regular to school
• ·         Helps them focus
• ·         Improves memory and retention rate

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India that is the implementer of the PM POSHAN scheme (formerly known as the Mid-Day Meal Programme) that benefits 1.8 million children studying in Government and Government-aided schools in 14 states and 2 union territories of India. With its decentralised and centralised kitchens spread across 63 locations, this NGO in India caters to the nutritional needs of children. 

Akshaya Patra works under a Public Private Partnership model and has been running the school lunch programme for the last 21 years with strong support from the Government, donors and corporate partners. 

Akshaya Patra inaugurates 62^nd kitchen

On 7 July 2022, the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s new kitchen in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. This is the fifth centralised kitchen in the state after Lucknow, Vrindavan, Gorakhpur and Mant. 

Honourable Governor, Smt Anandiben Patel and Honourable Chief Minister, Shri Yogi Adityanath accompanied the Prime Minister. This kitchen was supported by Westbridge Capital. The event was presided by Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman – Akshaya Patra, and Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman. 

This event was followed by a visit to the newest kitchen. The Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Governor along with other dignitaries were given a tour of the Akshaya Patra kitchen. 

Details of the Akshaya Patra Kitchen in Varanasi

• ·         Spread over an area of 3 acres
• ·         Capacity to feed 1,00,000 children
• ·         High standards of hygiene, food safety and quality
• ·         Roti machine makes 40,000 rotis/hour
• ·         700-litre capacity rice cauldron with hydraulic system
• ·         1,200-litre capacity dal cauldron with automatic motors
• ·         Reverse Osmosis plant for water purification
• ·         Solar panels for electricity production
• ·         Heat pump and solar water heater to boil water

Once all the dignitaries visited the kitchen facility, the Honourable Prime Minister gathered with children who showcased their talents by singing, dancing, reciting shlokas, performing yoga asanas, etc.

5 components of a Mid Day Meal

 

Mid-Day Meals – A nutritious promise

 

Assam flood relief works help rebuild lives

Since the lashing of rains and overflowing of the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, Assam suffered day after day and it seemed never-ending.

It always starts as the rivers start gushing down carrying the silt as a result of the melting glaciers. Added to the heavy monsoons and the melting glaciers, the river volumes enhance and pick up intensity downstream, resulting in floods.

This is the case every year.

However, it is said that Assam is facing the worst-flood scenario in the last decade.

With hundreds of deaths and lakhs of affected people, the situation seems grimmer by the day. Thousands of them have become homeless and are staying in relief camps battling hunger, shortage of essential supplies and recurring landslides.

Indians from all walks of life have come forward to lend their support to the flood victims.

I was devastated seeing the water levels when we were on the way to provide food as a part of the Assam flood relief works. I freaked out when I realised that almost half of the tractor wheels were submerged; it was like we were floating. We were all geared to brace for the rain and floods, but the local people were not equipped.

Men braved through the waters even though it was waist-deep.

So many questions popped into my mind.

What if they slip and fall?
How and where will they sleep?
Where will they stay?
How will they fight water-borne diseases?
How will they recover from their losses?
How will they remark their land?
If their house is submerged, what about their means of food?...

I had to stop my mind from thinking further.

As I got off the tractor, I figured that ours was not the only NGO in India who has arrived for support, there were so many others.

As one positive aspect, I was happy to see that there are so many generous people who donate to feed the needy during times of disaster. When we have each other, we can face and battle any disaster.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India that provides food assistance to flood victims. I am glad I was able to reach out to people in distress by being associated with this Foundation. With the generosity of many individuals, corporate donors and partnerships with various Governments, we were able to serve freshly cooked meals to these victims.

What we provided as meals

In these flood-affected areas of Kamrup district (Rukminigaon and Hatigaon areas), we served any one of the following options:

• Rice, dal & subzi
• Vegetable pulav & subzi
•  Plain/ vegetable khichdi

Today’s scenario

As the water levels have started to recede, flood victims have started to rebuild their lives and homes. They have been trying to cope with their lives and food should be the last thing on their mind.

Along with other organisations that provide relief materials, Akshaya Patra has been distributing Flood Relief Kits to help flood victims sustain the harsh situations. Donate to feed the needy people with your contribution to provide kits that contain:

Rice, Wheat Flour, Toor Dal, Desi Chana, Peanuts, Oil, Spices, Sugar, Salt, Biscuits, Sanitary Pads, Notebooks

 

Assam needs us!

All our support can help each and every one of them to be a survivor.

Be a food warrior to a flood warrior!

Donate online towards the Assam flood relief works to give food assistance to all the people in need. 

Akshaya Patra reach 2022

 

Supporting a Cause Is Always the Right Choice

 

The bell rang after a few hours of classes and the children joyfully rushed out, excited to have the best time of their day – lunchtime. The corridors were filled with the sounds of their chatter and laughter. That was the moment I realized….

…true joy is when you are the reason that someone else is happy.

 

My association with Akshaya Patra has only been for months. But ever since my first day with the Foundation, I have felt less anxious every day. 

Working for the benefit of those from low socio-economic backgrounds seems to align with the ultimate purpose of any human life. Seeing the smiling faces of children relishing their mid-day meals as an outcome of my work fills me with a sense of accomplishment that I had not experienced anywhere else.  

Gone are the days when people could support underprivileged communities only by being on the ground. Today, people can contribute towards a social cause even with their busy schedules through online donations!

Happiness beyond material success

Everyone seeks happiness. And often, even a hoard of material wealth does not seem to provide the contentment we seek. From my experience, it was clear that true bliss lays in the act of giving.

As Horace Jackson Brown Jr., an American author, said, “The happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.”

It is as simple as sharing your small successes with underprivileged individuals. And you can do so in multiple ways. These include:

• Distributing clothes, books and stationery
• Donating money
• Funding their ration
• Sponsoring children’s education 

Clothes, books and stationery can benefit the underprivileged for a short term. But supporting financially challenged children’s education and school meals can fight the root cause of their distress – illiteracy and malnourishment. 

Free education is incomplete without the proper nutrition that aids effective learning. 

Although education for children ensures that poverty doesn’t persist beyond the current generation, nutritious food fuels the physical and mental strength of children to efficiently learn, participate in events outside of school and pave a path for their growth in fields of their choice.

Food will help children fight both diseases and illiteracy that hinder their long-term progress. As a result, sponsoring school meals for children of government schools will eventually enable marginalized communities to become independent, progress locally and overcome their current limitations. 

Reverse the cons

When you donate to feed the children, you not only support them but also their parents since it assures them that their little ones are getting essential nutrients and that they will lead better lives in the future.

Also, when children eat together in school, it improves socialization among castes and also empowers women through employment in kitchens.

Funding children’s mid-day meal programme at schools will ensure lasting changes, a sustainable future and equal rights for all. Furthermore, when children receive the generosity of others, they will also learn to work for the betterment of people around them.

Hence, today many NGOs have come forward to feed children and enhance the benefits of education.

Additionally, the pandemic had forced children to stay behind doors, and those without access to digital education experienced further difficulties in retaining and practising concepts taught at school before the lockdown.

Which is precisely why they need our support, NOW MORE THAN EVER.

The Mid-day meal Programme saves the day

You can aid the complete development of school children by supporting us and our various causes through online donations. Your support to Akshaya Patra will ensure the nourishment of children, pregnant women and nursing mothers to eliminate malnutrition at its early stages.

We are an NGO in India whose mission and vision revolve around an optimistic dream that no child should ever be deprived of education or healthy growth due to a lack of food. The seeds of the thought of feeding children came from a visual outside a window where children fought with stray dogs for scraps of food.

We have always believed that there is no future without educated children and thus, children’s place should be inside classrooms – learning, participating in discussions and planning for an inclusive future that benefits people from all socio-economic backgrounds.

Hence, since our inception in 2000, we have only grown in terms of quality and quantity. And currently, we provide school meals to over 1.8 million underprivileged children in India. With your kind donations, we not only feed them every day for an entire academic year but also maintain strict hygiene standards during the cooking process.

So, let’s join hands to nourish children and their priceless dreams. Extend your support to Akshaya Patra for a bright future of India’s youth and underserved communities.

---

Support Assam Flood Relief Initiative

 We, at Akshaya Patra — an NGO in India, are providing food to flood-affected people in Assam from our kitchen in Guwahati. Donate to feed the needy.