The new state-of-the-art kitchen—Akshaya Patra’s 59th centralised kitchen—will enable the organisation to serve approximately 15,000 freshly cooked, nutritious mid-day meals in the region.

Gadarpur, 1st January, 2022: The Hon’ble Minister of School Education, Government of Uttarakhand, Shri Arvind Pandey, inaugurated The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s first kitchen in the state in Gadarpur city of Udham Singh Nagar district. This kitchen is sponsored by Concentrix, the global customer experience services and technologies company. Through this kitchen, Akshaya Patra will endeavour to implement the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme in the state. The kitchen has a built-up area of 7,000 sq. ft., and the capacity to prepare 15,000 meals. The Foundation will initially serve about 10,000 children of 100 Government schools in the region and eventually increase its reach.

Shri Arvind Pandey graced the inauguration ceremony as the chief guest. The guests of honour for the event were Shri Balraj Pasi, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha. Delegates of Concentrix, were also present at the ceremony as special invitee. The event was presided by Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman of Akshaya Patra. Shri G Raghuram, Principal Academic Advisor, National Rail and Transport and Trustee of Akshaya Patra Foundation and Shri Bharatarshabha Dasa, National President and Trustee of Akshaya Patra, were also present on the occasion.

Akshaya Patra’s collaboration with the Government of Uttarakhand will go beyond the school feeding programme. The State Government has made remarkable progress in transforming the education system through its continued efforts. Drawing inspiration, Akshaya Patra and Byju’s have come together to complement the Government’s interventions in digital education. Together, they will provide quality education to over 1.5 lakh children in the state free of cost. In doing so, both organisations will strive to take digital learning to the students of Uttarakhand, offering them an interactive and innovative learning experience by providing them access to a world-class digital learning platform with professionally curated content. In addition, they will also provide access to NEET and JEE resources to 11th and 12th students.

The inauguration event was followed by a tour of the kitchen facility and a symbolic serving of meals. The dignitaries present congratulated Akshaya Patra for successfully completing 21 years in service of the children and communities and commended the Foundation’s efforts to address hunger and malnutrition through its kitchen network spread across the country.

Shri Arvind Pandey, Hon’ble Minister of School Education, Government of Uttarakhand, said: “After becoming the Minister of School Education, my first resolution was to completely solve the problems related to mid-day meals. There was only one best solution, and that was to build a high-quality centralized kitchen. The opening of Akshay Patra kitchen today is a testament to this resolve. The Akshay Patra kitchen is a big achievement for our area and school going children. I express my gratitude to honorable MP Shri Balraj Pasi ji for his cooperation.”

Shri Balraj Pasi, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, said: “I would like to congratulate the entire team of Akshay Patra for ensuring freshly cooked, nutritious and delicious food to as many children as possible with utmost dedication even during the Corona period. I have personally seen Akshay Patra’s Vrindavan kitchen where food is prepared for more than one lakh children every day. This is indeed a great achievement. It is also a great feat to distribute this food while it is still fresh and warm within a radius of 25-30 kms. The initiation of Akshay Patra kitchen in Uttarakhand has been possible with the cooperation and contribution of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Dhami ji and Shri Arvind Pandey, Hon’ble Minister of School Education. My best wishes and support will always be with Akshay Patra.”

In the future, Akshaya Patra will set up kitchens in five cities of Uttarakhand (Dehradun, Rudrapur, Kashipur, Sitarganj and Haridwar), which will enable the organisation to reach out to approximately 2.2 lakh children in the state with hot, nutritious meals every school day.

Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman, said: “We are immensely grateful to the Hon’ble Minister of School Education Uttarakhand, Shri Arvind Pandey ji for inaugurating our first kitchen in the state and the Government of Uttarakhand for providing us this opportunity to serve the children in this region. We extend our sincere gratitude to Concentrix for sponsoring this kitchen and supporting our efforts to address classroom hunger. Having witnessed first-hand how the school feeding programme acts as a stimulus for children to come to school and continue their education, we have always strived to reach out to more and more children across the country with hot, nutritious mid-day meals. The newly built kitchen will enable us to serve thousands of children in Uttarakhand and support their health and education. We want to wholeheartedly thank the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India, for their continued support to the Foundation’s endeavours over the last 21 years.”

G. Raghuram, Trustee, said, “Akshaya Patra feeds over 1.8 million children across the country. This scale of the programme in itself is a validation of the Foundation’s credibility and the public trust in the organisation resulting from strict adherence to good governance practices. The Foundation strives to enhance the effectiveness of the MDM Scheme through its persistent efforts. Akshaya Patra will continue to work with all its stakeholders to support the Government’s welfare programmes whilst ensuring transparency and accountability in all spheres of our functioning.”

The new state-of-the-art kitchen dedicated to serve children in Gadarpur will be the Akshaya Patra’s 59th kitchen in the country. It will follow the highest standards of hygiene, food safety and quality, and enable the Foundation to deliver freshly cooked, nutritious and tasty meals to more children. Continuing with the practice of serving food in accordance to the local palate, the Foundation’s menu for Gadarpur will include roti, rice, mix dal, aloo matar, rajma, veg pulao, kabuli chana, khichdi and kheer.

About The Akshaya Patra Foundation
 
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that strives to address classroom hunger and malnutrition 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. 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.

For more details, please log on: www.akshayapatra.org