Saluting India’s Women this Women’s Day

Women’s empowerment has always been a cause that The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been conscious of. Though women’s empowerment is not directly associated with the cause of providing Food for Education, Akshaya Patra has always in its own way, worked toward the empowerment of the women in society.


This is because of the belief that no problem is an isolated phenomenon. By providing the mid-day meals at government schools, The Akshaya Patra Foundation has found an incentive to bring young children to school and get an education. By gaining an education, these young boys and girls learn to reassess the society around them, and question long established norms that may no longer work for the good of society.

The mid-day meal ensures that parents have one mouth less to feed at home and therefore makes it worthwhile for parents to send their daughters to school, rather than keeping them at home to look after their siblings.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s decentralised kitchens are also run by Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the guidance and supervision of Akshaya Patra personnel. These kitchens provide employment to many women in the area which helps make them more empowered both financially and socially. This also serves as a great source of inspiration to many young girls in school, who can now see a different future unfolding for them.

Akshaya Patra also runs Anganwadi programmes in certain locations to provide the right nutrition to infants and pregnant and lactating mothers. The Foundation believes that by giving these young girls and women the support they need at the right time, we can transform their lives and make them self-sufficient, independent, empowered members of society, and this Women’s Day, The Akshaya Patra Foundation would like to acknowledge these women who have taken their first steps down this road.