CM NARENDRA MODI LAUNCHES AKSHAYA PATRA IN Foundation now feeds 7,90,0000 Children across six states

JULY 28, 2007, GANDHINAGAR: Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi, today formally launched the Akshaya Patra school meal program in the state. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Shri Madhu Pandit Das, Chairman of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Minister for Education, Smt Anandiben Patel, Minister for Primary Education, Bhupendrabhai Lakhawala and board members of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Mohan Das Pai (also Board Member & Director-Human Resources, Infosys Technologies) Abhay Jain and Vice Chairman, Shri Chanchalapathi Das. The inauguration was preceded by a tour of the Akshaya Patra kitchen by the CM and other dignitaries. The inauguration was held at the Town Hall in the state’s capital city, Gandhinagar where the the CM and dignitaries served the Akshaya Patra meal to about 150 beneficiary children and shared the meal with them.

The -based Akshaya Patra Foundation commenced serving school meals to students in Government schools of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar from mid-June. The Government of Gujarat and The Akshaya Patra Foundation have signed a MoU to feed children in the Ahmedabad West, Gandhinagar City and Gandhinagar Rural. The enrolled number of students in these schools is 65,000. With the addition of Gujarat schools, Akshaya Patra is now nearer to its goal of feeding one million school children every day by the end of 2010.

Speaking at the occasion Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi said, “The government has many programs but we have to constantly upgrade the approach, implementation, envelop new ideas to ensure effectiveness. The Gujarat government has been running the Mid Day Meal program for the last several years. But we encourage public private partnership. We welcome Akshaya Patra and commend its technology–intensive mechanised kitchen model. When NGOs come they bring soul to the program.”

Shriman Madhu Pandit Das in his speech said, "Akshaya Patra is more than a school meal program. Its a hunger-eradication program. It is an education program. It’s a social project. It’s a nation building effort. It marries the public and private entities to the common goal of seeing as a developed nation in the world, with no hungry children on its map."

A temporary kitchen facility, on the lines of the Akshaya Patra kitchens of innovatively engineered, centralized and automated kitchens has been set up in Gandhinagar with a fleet of custom-built vehicles which have been delivering the noon meals to the schools. The kitchen features the first of its kind chapathi-making machine in Gujarat which can role out 1 0,000 chapathis in one hour. Akshaya patra has an invested about 75 lakhs in setting up this technology intensive, state of the art kitchen facility.

Shri Mohan Das Pai said, “ We want to ensure that every Indian has an opportunity to have a decent meal, a decent education, a decent dwelling and a decent life to live his dream. To achieve this, Akshaya Patra wants to feed children and ensure them an education. India is growing and rapidly reaching a GDP of two digits. The real success of the growth of India would be in all sections of its society benefitting.”

The program has already won immense appreciation from the children, teachers and government officials in Gujarat. Akshaya Patra is currently serving over 7 ,50,000 children in 13 locations and six states of , , Orissa, , Gujarat and .

MORE ABOUT AKSHAYA PATRA

13.5 million children in the age group of 6-13 years are out of school in India. Despite the trillion-dollar economic growth, a large chunk of India’s younger generation does not have access to schools because of poverty and malnutrition. To facilitate the education of such needy children, The Akshaya Patra Foundation , provides unlimited noon meals in schools in partnership with the Central and respective state governments of India. Currently the program is feeding 7,90,000 children in over 4,000 government, government aided schools and anganwadis (day care centers) in 14 locations across India.

They are Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Bellary, Mangalore and Mysore in Karnataka, Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh, Jaipur, Nathdwara and Baran in Rajasthan, Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh and Puri in Orissa, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat. This is amongst the world’s largest NGO-run program in the world.

Started as an ISKCON Bangalore pilot initiative in June 2000, Akshaya Patra was instituted into an Foundation in October 2001. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a secular, charitable, public not-for-profit trust and the program is implemented only in government schools which already have a secular policy.

The program uses centralized, automated kitchens for cooking food which is then distributed to schools through special purpose vehicles. Akshaya Patra’s kitchens can cook about 100,000 meals in less than five hours with least human intervention and sustained quality. A three item menu is served to children as per the recommendations of qualified nutritionists. Due to extensive mechanization of the kitchen, the program is able to offer children standardized, high quality, hygienic meals.

The program also offers education and health interventions for holistic child development.

The program is independently governed by a Board of Trustees & audited by KPMG.

A study in the year 2006 by AC Nielsen Org Marg Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, has vouched the efficacy of the program in increasing attendance in schools, improving nutritional status of these children, enhancing their learning abilities and reducing drop out rates.

Akshaya Patra program is run with part subsides from the government, besides financial support from corporates and individual philanthropists. All contributions to The Akshaya Patra Foundation are eligible for 100% tax deduction under section 35AC/80GGA(bb) of the Income Tax Act 1961 in India.

With a vision to ensure that no child in India is deprived of education because of hunger, the Akshaya Patra Foundation is striving to end hunger and create a human resources pool that will propel India into the league of developed nations.

For More Details Contact-

Seemantini Hegde

The Akshaya Patra Foundation

Bangalore-10

92432 63500