Bangalore: The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that strives to address classroom hunger and malnutrition organisation by running one of the world’s largest school meals project in India. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government and Government-aided schools, Akshaya Patra aims to fight hunger and, at the same time, bring children to school.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation resumed the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme on October 21, 2021, after the COVID-19 pandemic kept children out of school for the last 18 months, thanks to a positive decision by the Karnataka State Government. The Mid-Day Meal program benefits lakhs of students from the Government and Government-aided schools who relish a hot nutritious meal.
It is serving over 75,000 children studying in 789 schools in and around Bangalore through their three kitchens in Rajajinagar, Vasanthpura and Jigani centralised kitchens.
The Foundation recognises the need to resume the school meal programme in a safe manner. They have taken all essential steps for safe and nutritious meal delivery. All employees are fully vaccinated and trained to carefully adhere to the COVID-safety protocols from preparing, packaging, and delivering food to the mapped schools.
With the resumption of schools after 18 months, it has curated a special menu for the beneficiaries, i.e., a veg biryani loaded with beans, carrot, capsicum, potato, and cabbage, and a sweet in the form of moong dal payasam.”
Since 2000, Akshaya Patra has worked towards reaching out to children with wholesome food every single school day. The Foundation is continuously leveraging technology to cater to millions of children. Its state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and attract curious visitors from around the world. In partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments and the inestimable support of many philanthropic donors and well-wishers, Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings serving just 1,500 school children across five schools to becoming the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) mid-day meal programme, serving wholesome food to over 1.8 million children from 19,039 schools [as of March 2020] across 13 States and one Union Territory in India.