Commissioner for Women and child welfare department?s visit to Akshaya Patra Kitchen
Anita Rajendra, Commissioner for Women and child welfare department visited Akshaya Patra foundation recently to check the implementation of the program in Visakhapatanam.
Anasuya, Regional Deputy Director, Kameshwaramma, Project Director and Y Sunanda, Anganwadi Supervisor accompanied her during her visit.
The Women and Child Welfare Department has also shared the impact study report on Anganwadi centers after the introduction of Akshaya Patra.
The impact study shows that there is an improvement in the performance of students and there is an increase in the number of attendees for the spot feeding program for pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Akshaya Patra nutritional program was introduced on 03-01-2011 on experimental basis and was inaugurated by the Honorable Minister for Tribal welfare Sri.Pasupuleti Bala Raju.
Currently Akshaya Patra caters 5 varieties of food from 10.30 am at Anganwadi centers.For more information please visti: http://www.akshayapatra.org/Commissioner-visits-Akshaya-Patra-facility
Our Role
Akshaya Patra works in partnership with various State Governments of India to provide 1.2 million underprivileged children across the nation with school lunch. Founded in June 2000 we are now the world’s largest NGO run mid-day meal program, present in 18 locations of the country.
Our work actively affects the 2 most critical MDGs: elimination of hunger and universalisation of primary education.
The program we implement gives underprivileged children direct access to food.
This wholesome meal is often the only nutrition they get to have during the day. Our food lab therefore strives to ensure that the meals are palatable to children, while also meeting the requirements of a growing child. The Foundation’s centralized kitchens, some of the largest in the world, use innovative technology to cook hundreds of thousands of meals in a few short hours. Our decentralized kitchens reach out to children in the remotest areas of India while also creating employment for hundreds of women.The program also helps in the universalization of primary education.
Nearly 13.5 million children in India are out of school.* Their circumstances force them into menial labor in order to earn a single meal a day. The food we provide therefore acts as an incentive to bring children back to school. It prevents them from working while also encouraging their education.
Surveys conducted show that the program is working. In some areas where Akshaya Patra is providing meals, enrolment for class 1 students has increased by as much as 41% during the initial year of implementation.
Akshaya Patra reaches out to 1335,106 children in 18 locations across 8 states of India, providing them with freshly cooked meal on all school days.
