The new kitchen is Akshaya Patra’s 65th unit in the country and will enable the Foundation to serve over 30,000 children.

Jorhat, Assam, 29th July, 2022: Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam, Shri. Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s centralised kitchen in Jorhat, Assam in the presence of Dr. Ranoj Pegu, Hon’ble Education Minister of Assam and Shri Hitendra Nath Goswami, Hon’ble MLA, Jorhat. Ms. Sharmeen Kutky – Vice President and Head Corporate Citizenship & Foundations – Credit Suisse India; Mr. Amit Chandra, ATE Chandra Foundation; and Dr. Priyesh Modi, Head (CSR) – Apraava Energy, were the special guests for the occasion. The state-of-the-art centralised kitchen, spread over an area of 3 acres, is built in partnership with Credit Suisse, the platinum donors of the project, as well as Apraava Energy Private Limited and ATE Chandra Foundation. In addition, Sarojini Trilok Nath Trust and Numaligarh Refinery Limited have also supported the endeavour. The new unit is Akshaya Patra’s 65th kitchen in the country and second in the state of Assam. It will enable the Foundation to impact the lives of over 30,000 children through the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) [formerly the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme].

Akshaya Patra has been an implementing partner of the Government of Assam for the school lunch programme since 2010. The Foundation serves over 40,000 children in Guwahati. With the newly launched kitchen in Jorhat, the Foundation will initially serve over 12,000 children in the first phase across 164 schools and eventually scale up to more schools.

The inauguration event was followed by a tour of the kitchen facility and a symbolic serving of meals to the children. The dignitaries present unequivocally commended Akshaya Patra’s efforts to address hunger and malnutrition in the country through the feeding programme and pledged their support to the organisation’s endeavours.

This new kitchen will follow world-class manufacturing practices and the highest standards of hygiene, food safety and quality to ensure that nutritious food is cooked and delivered to children. Adhering to the practice of serving food in accordance to the local palate, Akshaya Patra will be serving rice, varieties of dal, vegetable preparations, such as aaloo matar tomato sabji, kabuli chana sabji, louki with chana dal sabji, veg pulao, khichdi and kheer in a cyclic manner in Jorhat.

Akshaya Patra will also provide employment opportunities to the locals. As a norm, the Foundation’s kitchens have a large workforce, comprising women and men belonging to various backgrounds and communities.

Expressing his gratitude, Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, “I would like to take this moment to thank the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri. Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Government of Assam for their support and providing us this land and the necessary permissions to build a kitchen in this region to serve the children of Assam. I also thank the Hon’ble Chief Minister for sparing time from his busy schedule to inaugurate our new kitchen today. The Jorhat kitchen, our second in the state of Assam, will enable us to feed more than 30,000 children in the region, bringing our overall beneficiary count in the state to over 75,000 children. I would like also like to especially thank the Government of India for their continued support to our efforts to serve the children of our country. Their timely permissions and authorisations, grants and subsidies, and allocation of grains from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Food & Civil Supplies Corporations have enabled us to efficiently implement the PM-POSHAN initiative in 14 states and two UTs across the country.” Acknowledging the support of donors, he said, “On behalf of Akshaya Patra I want to extend our sincere gratitude to Credit Suisse, Apraava Energy Private Limited, ATE Chandra Foundation, Numaligarh Refinery Limited, Sarojini Trilok Nath Trust, and other corporate donors for sponsoring this kitchen and supporting our efforts to address classroom hunger and malnutrition. Their invaluable support has played a crucial role in ensuring the sustainability that is integral to our endeavour.” He further added, “Over the years, we have witnessed the impact of the PM POSHAN initiative (formerly the Mid-Day Meal Scheme) and strived to contribute to its objectives in our capacity as the implementing partner for the same. We will continue to do our best and reach out to more and more children across the country with hygienic, nutritious and tasty mid-day meals every school day.”

Appreciating the collaboration, Mr Mickey Doshi, Managing Director and Country CEO, Credit Suisse India, said, “We congratulate The Akshaya Patra Foundation on the inauguration of the kitchen in support of their global fight against eliminating classroom hunger and child malnutrition by feeding hot and nutritious meals to school children in Jorhat. We, at Credit Suisse, firmly believe that there is no better way than feeding needy children to show our dedication and register our contribution towards the society we live in. Other than the kitchen, Credit Suisse have sponsored mid-day meals for 8,400 children for a year across Karnataka (Bellary) & Rajasthan (Nathdwara) and for 4,460 children in Pune. We have also provided ration kits during COVID times for underprivileged families. We hope that this collaboration will bring about change in the lives of children who are the future of this country.”

Reiterating their joy on partnering with The Akshaya Patra Foundation, Mrs. Archana and Mr. Amit Chandra from ATE Chandra Foundation said, “A perpetually hungry child can neither concentrate in school or grow into a healthy adult. Akshaya Patra’s approach to reach less privileged children by providing midday meals via schools is therefore brilliant. We are privileged to support the Jorhat Kitchen Project which aims to nurture the wellbeing of thousands of children daily in a remote and often neglected part of our country.”

Speaking on the partnership, Dr. Priyesh Modi, Head – Corporate Social Responsibility, Apraava Energy said “We are extremely happy to expand our partnership with The Akshaya Patra Foundation and contribute to efforts aimed at combating hunger and encouraging children to pursue education. The kitchen in Jorhat is our third venture with The Akshay Patra Foundation. It is located close to our transmission asset, KMTL. The nutritious meals provided by the kitchen will help school children concentrate better during classroom learning”.