Akshaya Patra Decentralized Kitchen in Rajasthan Supports Employment to Rural Women

A country cannot progress if its women and children are held back; their welfare is an indicator of a nation’s development. Mid day meals promote education, providing children with a bright future, but they can also empower rural women.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation  mid day meal program is active in more than 9000 Government schools across 19 locations of 9 states, with operations in urban, semi-urban and rural areas.  The Foundation serves mid-day meals to over 1.3 million children across India.

Akshaya Patra’s centralized kitchens are industrial-sized “food factories” where all the cooking activities of a particular location are concentrated, but in remote areas of the country where difficult terrain makes setting up of large infrastructures infeasible, the Foundation has set up decentralized kitchens where food for one school is cooked in an area close to the school. In Baran Distrtict, Rajasthan, Akshaya Patra provides mid day meals to more than 14,000 children in over 150 Government schools

Unlike the mechanized cooking process of centralized kitchens, the food preparation here is done manually, and to take advantage of the employment opportunities offered, Akshaya Patra employs local women self-help groups and even mothers of the children studying in the schools.

They are trained to prepare the meals using healthy, hygienic methods and are supplied with all the raw materials and infrastructure for cooking. They are also educated on the importance of basic sanitation.

This endeavor has helped empower the rural women of Rajasthan and Odisha by providing them a consistent livelihood resource as mid-day meal cooks, and there are many inspiring stories to be found here.

Prem Bai is a resident of Baansthuli village of Baran district in Rajasthan and a mother of three children. She has been working as a cook in Akshaya Patra’s decentralized kitchen in Baran since six years.

She said: “I studied until Class II when I was young. That’s all, but I always wanted to study more. When I am done with cooking and distribution of meals, I sit near the class and learn what the teacher teaches. Back home I read my children’s books. Today I can read a newspaper without any difficulty.”

Kanti Bai and Lalita Bai of Rampuriya village also work as cooks in Akshaya Patra’s decentralized kitchens. The lessons they receive from Akshaya Patra on sanitation and hygiene helps them incorporate it into their daily lives. “We now insist that children also wash hands before eating,” she said.

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