On August 2 2018, The Akshaya Patra Foundation conducted Bhumi Puja of its upcoming kitchen in Gadarpur, Uttarakhand, in association with the Government of Uttarakhand and Concentrix. This will be the second centralised mid-day meal kitchen of the Foundation in the state. The forthcoming kitchen facility will have the capacity to provide over 25,000 meals daily to children in the district of Udham Singh Nagar.

Arvind Pandey – Honourable Minister, School Education, Uttarakhand, was the Chief Guest for the ground breaking ceremony. Balraj Passi – Former Member of Parliament; Yashpal Arya – Dignitary Minister of Transportation, Uttarakhand; Adesh Singh Chauhan – MLA, Jaspur; Raj Kumar Thukral – MLA, Rudrapur; Pushkar Singh Dhami – MLA, Khatima and other MLAs of Udham Singh Nagar also embraced the occasion as Guests of Honour. Narasimha Dasa – President, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, Uttarakhand conducted the event.

Gracing the occasion, Balraj Passi – Former Member of Parliament, said, “Our government is committed to ensure that our children are educated and well nourished. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is known for setting up state-of-the-art kitchens which leverage technology to cook hygienic, nutritious and tasty meals. We welcome Akshaya Patra to Uttarakhand and look forward to an enduring partnership in the service of children.” Adding to it, Arvind Pandey – esteemed Education Minister of Uttarakhand mentioned, “Mid-day meals are very crucial to ensure that education reaches all children in the state. We wish to strengthen the programme and have partnered with Akshaya Patra to make this possible.”

As a vote of thanks, Narasimha Dasa – President, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, Uttarakhand said, “I would like to wholeheartedly thank the Honourable Minister, School Education, Shri Arvind Pandey, and all the dignitaries for gracing this event. Twelve of the Akshaya Patra kitchens have received FSMS ISO 22000:2005 certification. The semi-automated kitchen to be built here in Gadarpur will house a roti machine which can produce over 20,000 rotis in an hour. Cauldrons will cook 3,700 litres of dhal and 6,000 kgs of rice per day. This kitchen in Gadarpur will be first of the four kitchens to be set up in Udham Singh Nagar. Three more kitchens will be setup on similar lines to cover beneficiary children in the plain areas.”

It is remarkable that nine modern centralised kitchens are planned to be set up in Uttarakhand in the four districts ― Dehradun (Suddhowala), Udham Singh Nagar (Rudrapur, Kashipur, Sitarganj and Gadarpur), Haridwar (Roorkee and Haridwar urban) and Nainital (Ram Nagar and Haldwani).

Expressing his joy at the occasion, Madhu Pandit Dasa – Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, stated, “We are very happy to be in the devbhumi of Uttarakhand and serve children. The mid-day meals program is a crucial intervention in the education system which ensures that children are retained in school and that they are able to make better use of the benefits afforded by the government schools for furthering their education. We are thankful to the Government of Uttarakhand and Shri Arvind Pandey, Education Minister in particular for giving us an opportunity to serve children in the state. We also express our heartfelt thanks to Concentrix for having come forward to sponsor the kitchen in Gadarpur.”