Delhi, September 08, 2022: Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu met Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of Great India Talent Foundation (GITF) and The Akshaya Patra Foundation at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President appreciated the unique initiative undertaken for the welfare of tribal children by GITF. She also lauded the feeding programs of Akshaya Patra that have positively impacted lakhs of underprivileged children and families in the country. 

GITF provides education to children from tribal communities in remote areas. Great India Talent School is its first school in Tripura. Akshaya Patra is recognised as the world’s largest NGO-run school lunch programme. The Foundation also serves fresh and nutritious mid-day meals to the students of GITS through its community kitchen set up on the school campus.

A batch of students and teachers from the Great India Talent School got an opportunity to visit the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The students belong to the Reang tribe and are from families with an agricultural background in Kashirampara and surrounding villages in Tripura. The President interacted with the group and inspired them to do well in their areas of interest. The talented children exhibited their culture and heritage by performing a traditional tribal dance and presented her with specially handcrafted gifts. 

Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa expressed his gratitude and said, “It is our privilege that the Hon’ble President of India spared time to meet the students. Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji has risen to the highest position from a humble background. She is truly an inspiration to the children and youth of our country. We thank Madam President for her kind appreciation and look forward to her guidance in our future initiatives.”

About Great India Talent Foundation
Great India Talent Foundation (GITF) was launched in 2016. It is an endeavour to nurture the natural inclinations of children and provide holistic education, enabling them to secure a better future for themselves, their families and the entire community. 

Great India Talent School (also known as Mahan Bharat Pratibha Vidyalaya), the first school of GITF, was inaugurated in Kashirampara, Tripura, on March 29, 2017. We started by providing education from Class LKG to Class 3 with 350 students. GITS Kashirampara currently serves about 600 children from Class LKG to Class 7, predominantly from Naisingpara and Ashapara refugee camps in Tripura. 

These children belonging to the Reang tribe from Kashirampara and the surrounding areas get education in English medium, textbooks, notebooks, uniforms, shoes, socks, sweaters, school bags, and mid-day meals entirely free of cost. Medical camps are organised to provide free check-ups, immunisations, etc., for students and teachers regularly with appropriate follow-ups. We also distributed essential grocery relief kits to the students of GITS and their families during the pandemic. 

GITS adheres to the CBSE syllabus providing local children access to quality education and Macmillan books like their urban counterparts. They are served fresh, hot and nutritious meals with varied menus from the Akshaya Patra kitchen. This addresses classroom hunger and improves their concentration levels, thus enhancing their learning capacities. We also contribute to the socio-economic development of the Reang community by generating employment opportunities for local youth and women in GITS and the Akshaya Patra kitchen.

About The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Akshaya Patra began its service to the nation in the year 2000 with the vision that no child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger. The Foundation has alleviated classroom hunger by providing the children with fresh, nutritious and tasty school lunches by leveraging technology and philanthropy. As we believe in investing in health and nutrition programmes, the Foundation also implements the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Anganwadi feeding initiative. 

The Foundation has been appreciated as the most admired public-private partnership in the development sector by bringing together the public and private sectors to address classroom hunger and malnutrition. Akshaya Patra has served 25 crore meals during the pandemic.

Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings to become the world’s largest NGO-run school lunch programme. We serve freshly cooked, nutritious mid-day meals every day to 18 lakh children in 65 locations across 14 states and 2 Union Territories of India.