Rs 55 crore grant donated by the Jamsetji Tata Trust

               Akshaya Patra will focus on upgrading existing kitchens, mounting ‘green initiatives’, enhancing food safety etc.

21 December, 2013: The Akshaya Patra Foundation has received a grant of Rs 55 Crore spread over a period of 5 years from the Jamsetji Tata Trust. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between Akshaya Patra and Jamsetji Tata Trust.  The initiative will focus on providing continuous support to repair and up-grade the existing kitchens, acquisition of logistic equipment including vehicles, reducing cooking to consumption time, mounting ‘green initiatives’, enhancing food safety measures and achieving process efficiencies. Thus, on a higher note, it will improve the quality & security measures of mid day meal served on each school working day by Akshaya Patra.

In a public-private partnership with the Government of India, Akshaya Patra serves over 1.3 million children in 9 states, 19 locations in India regularly with a mission to serve 5 million children by 2025. The state of the art kitchen facility (The Centralised model kitchen) can provide meals ranging from 50000 – 150000 meals per day. Akshaya Patra also has de-centralised kitchen model to reach remote areas. “The mission of Akshaya Patra is to reach 5 million children by 2025. This initiative will empower us to take few steps towards our goal. We are grateful to the Jamsetji Tata Trust for having seen value in associating with our programme,” said Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation.

The Jamsetji Tata Trust is one of the oldest philanthropic institutions in India, and has played a pioneering role in changing traditional ideas of charity.

 The Akshaya Patra Foundation

The Akshaya Patra Foundation a secular non-profit organization is in a public private partnership with the Indian government, which implements the world’s largest NGO managed mid-day meal programme. Akshaya Patra feeds around 1.3 million children on all school working days and the Foundation’s work has created a very wide ranging social impact among the children of poor and marginalized communities who go to government schools in India.