Flipkart Co-Founder and Chairman visits Akshaya Patra Kitchen

Mr Bansal distributes chocolates to children of Akshaya Patra beneficiary school, Government Higher Primary School, Konunkunte, Bengaluru.

Mr Sachin Bansal (fifth from right), Co-founder and Chairman, Flipkart, poses with Team Akshaya Patra for the camera.

The kids of Government Higher Primary School, Konunkunte, Bengaluru, queue up eagerly for their lunch, served by Mr Bansal.

Mr Bansal interacting with members of Team Akshaya Patra to know the workings of the organization.

For more details, visit: Sachin Bansal visits Akshaya Patra kitchen

Akshaya Patra Releases its Annual Report for 2015-16!

Akshaya Patra’s Annual Report for the year 2015-16 is out! Titled The Passioneers – Bound By Purpose. Driven By Passion, the report celebrates the dedication and toils of the people working behind-the-scenes. These are the people who make the organisation and ensure its smooth workings with their diligent efforts. The report details the financials and highlights of the year 2015-16, along with outlining the Foundation’s vision and mission, achievements, future plans and awards and recognitions it has received. Read it now!

https://blog.akshayapatra.org/the-passioneers-celebrating-the-passion-that-drives-akshaya-patra/

What is Value-based Education Programme?

Imagine a classroom of students learning the importance of love, peace, respect and other values. Now imagine a classroom looking into their textbooks to understand Newton’s Prism Experiment and moving on to the next subject. If you look at the larger picture – by combining both of these – you will be able to imagine a classroom full of students who are not only learning enthusiasts but also leaders of the future who will be able to spread love and kindness.

Embedding moral values in a student’s daily life brings happiness in school as well as at home. Building relationships through these values becomes easy. Often, students begin to learn values at home and then carry it to their work atmosphere. However, if we have to teach the students, it is the teachers who must be trained first. Many organisations including UNESCO, ACTS and others, have created training material that highlights the importance of value education and how it can be developed as part of syllabus.

What are the values?

According to the framework created by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training), values are defined as something that ‘regulate and guide human behaviour and action in our day to daily life.’

We would like to highlight 3 values that are important for every child:

1. Peace

One of the main values is creating peace amongst us. When we build peace within our environment, there is a greater opportunity to foster other values as well because all other values are rooted in peace. Akshaya Patra, a charity for children, supports peace by providing access to healthy food. Lack of food may cause insecurity and therefore, contribute to a hostile environment. By providing food with help from charity fundraising, Akshaya Patra promotes peace. 

2. Trust

Believing in someone does not come easy. For you trust someone, that person must have built this value through actions and words. Similarly, for someone to trust you, your actions and words must speak. This value, unfortunately, is most difficult when tried to inculcate among the elders. 

3. Respect

How often have we heard or said ‘Give respect and take respect’? Maybe it’s a line that never gets old but the message it has will always stay strong. Respect is a universal human value towards not just our race but to nature, planet and everything that surrounds us.

The NCERT report says, ‘If we try noticing what a person does in spare time when he or she is not being coaxed or threatened to do a particular activity, we may get some ideas about what he/she values.’ Let’s bring value education into the classroom and fill the student’s mind with values – values that will help protect the planet, values that will help in spreading joy and values that will help in respecting the elders.

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Akshaya Patra is an NGO that provides mid-day meals to over 1.6 million children every day. You can sponsor a child and receive 100% tax exemption as per section 80G of income tax act.

How Effective are Food for Education Programmes

If you’re reading this, you should call yourself fortunate. If going back home reminds you of delicious home-cooked food, you should call yourself fortunate. You’re fortunate because you’ve had the opportunity to learn and you’ve always got a tiffin box to carry in your bag or some money in the pocket for buying lunch.

Not many know that India is a home to 33% of world’s undernourished children. How can we not think of helping them? When you’ve more than you need, you should build a bigger table, not a higher fence. Seeing the present context, we need more supporters and food for education programs to get down to showing deep concern, spreading awareness, donating funds and providing healthy meals as an incentive to boost enrolment.

Akshaya Patra recently published its NGO annual report 2015-16 which gives insights into how the organisation reaches out to millions of children. Here’s how Akshaya Patra set forth in the path of reaching out to millions of children and are changing their lives.

A growth that’s no less than massive

Akshaya Patra has grown slowly and steadily. From 1,500 children a day to over 1.6 million children, the growth has been rising. It demonstrates that the role of NGO has always been aboard and determinant toward the goal of providing unlimited food for education. They’ve gone the extra mile, not only in well-managed technology, logistics, quality, and finance but also in strategies for sustainable working. The Foundation has gained trust of the philanthropic donors and beneficiaries as well.

Food for Education motivates children to pursue their dreams

Children from the marginalised sections of society often wait to pursue their dreams. Food for Education programmes help them in doing this. The blue buses at Akshaya Patra not only carry freshly cooked nutritious meals to 1.6 million children across India but also the smile and hope to get good food. Ambitious beneficiaries like Dashrath Chauhan, Anjali Batti, Saraswathi, and Chetan are some of our much prized stories of hope.

Involvement of public

It is essential for a public-private relationship based organisation to have provisions for public’s involvement. Without the generous help from well-wishers, it is not possible for an NGO to function at all. These organisations act as a medium for the society to show compassion towards the needy. Akshaya Patra provides several opportunities such as fundraising, campaigning, volunteering, partnering and donating online to get involved in this endeavor of eradicating undernourishment and ensuring access to education for all. For accomplishing its mission of feeding 5 million children by 2020, Akshaya Patra gives a shout-out to everyone who is willing to help those in dire need.

Akshaya Patra, an NGO based in Bengaluru, runs Mid-Day Meal Programme in 11 states of India.

To read in Hindi, visit: about NGO in Hindi.

L&T Infotech Teams Up With Akshaya Patra Foundation For Promoting Literacy.

L&T Infotech has teamed up with Akshaya Patra Foundation for supporting a noble cause for promoting literacy. The alliance aims to educate 10,000 children studying in 35 government schools in and around this city.

As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by L&T Infotech, the company has proposed to sponsor mid-day meals of these children and provide a conveyance to bring the cooked food to the schools in a timely manner.

“The primary objective of this alliance is to encourage high school attendance, surge national literacy rates, decrease dropout rates and also to ensure that the children are well-nourished,” said Shridhar Venkat, CEO of Akshaya Patra. Further to this, the companies have signed an official memorandum of understanding (MOU) towards fulfilling the initiative. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO which runs the Mid-Day Meal Programme for Government and Government-aided school children.

Education is Everybody’s Right

On one particular day in 1948, during the aftermath of World War II, United Nations (UN) set a milestone. The UN published Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a set of fundaments that provide equal opportunity for all – that were to be followed by all nations and all people. On this historic day, a decision was made which would help countries achieve peace in many aspects. About 48 countries, including India, voted in favour of the declaration. Here’s Akshaya Patra’s message on Human Rights Day observed across the globe.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, children’s charity in India, would like to particularly focus on Article 26 of Universal Declaration which declares education as a right. This children’s NGO began its programme to feed the hungry children in schools (students of government and government-aided schools) to encourage them to continue education. As a trust, the organisation focuses on two United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger and Quality Education.

In India, the National Human Rights Commission put forth its covenants only by the end of 20th century; more than 40 years after UN declared human rights articles. Today, these clauses are the voices of many whose lives are not liberated; trapped by unemployment, low or zero income, and other socio-economic issues. Akshaya Patra, with a vision that no child should be deprived of education because of hunger, strengthens many such families by providing mid-day meals to their children. 

Education is everybody’s right - Article 26 in Universal Declaration states:

• Everyone has the right to education
• Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages
• Elementary education shall be compulsory

As it states, India - a developing nation, dreams of achieving 100% literacy rate in the coming years. But to achieve this, many NGOs alike and citizens must come forward to build a nation in a sustainable manner.

Mid-day meal by Akshaya Patra is a promise for every student that they will not sit in a classroom with an empty stomach. Hunger or half-hunger has made many children resort to other choices. But they deserve to be given a fair chance to study and be successful. These children have dreams – to be a doctor, to be a police officer, to be a teacher and many more. Supporting these dreams through education and nutritious mid-day meals will help them achieve their dreams.

Today, as we draw closer to Human Rights Day, let us stand up for someone’s rights. Together, we can achieve peace, development, and universal education. Sponsor a child today to gift them an uninterrupted education. You can also choose to donate for education in India and support a child’s dream.

Why Should We Make Children Our Priority?

What do some of the top NGOs in India have in common? Children happen to be their priority. They are working in the field of child development through education, food, shelter and health. Akshaya Patra’s top priority is to reach more school children each day with nutritious food which, in turn, would encourage the kids come to school regularly.

When it comes to children, we think like parents. We make children our priority and single point of motivation while working. This Children’s Day, how can parents make children their priority?

Teach by example 

When you make children your priority, you want to teach them right. No lesson goes down deeply into the soul better than the one lived as an example. It is a way of treating our children with love and respect. At Akshaya Patra, we treat children with nutritious meals to ensure they are healthy and are encouraged to attend school. Be it in Bangalore or other parts of India, our staff understand that being part of a top NGO for children would mean being more sensitive and mindful around children. While serving the Mid-Day Meals, our staff ensures that they treat children with respect, serve the food appropriately and set an example of respecting meals.

Character development 

As Dr Haim Ginott put it, “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them, makes an impression.” We need to realise how vital it is to focus on the character development of children. We must see children as adults-in-the-making. Gently inculcating qualities of mutual respect, honouring others goes a long way in the development of a child’s character. Our experience as a child NGO in Bangalore helps us remember that children – be it in tech-savvy cities like or newly developed ones – are the same.

Smart discipline 

Today’s children have more access to information through technology. That coupled with their inherent sense of observation and imitation, makes discipline a challenging task. Yet, when teachers at schools and parents at home, gently carry out their responsibilities well, children are able to prioritise in life better and become more disciplined. Chetan, a beneficiary of our Mid-Day Meal Scheme run in association with the government, is someone who has benefitted from good discipline. He aspires to be an architect since he got the chance to watch a certain television programme about architects. He loves learning Marathi which is also his mother tongue. When we make children our priority, we are able to find smarter ways of inculcating discipline in them. 

Join hands in the cause

You may or may not be a parent, but you do realise that children are the future society. You may choose to join our cause of bringing children closer to school education by providing Mid-Day Meals in schools with the help of the government of India. We have so far served 2.12 billion meals to school children and this has been made possible with the support of our generous donors. As a donor, you also get a few tax benefits in 80G deduction or carrying out CSR activities. As a top NGO in bringing ‘Food for education’, Akshaya Patra aims at reaching every child in India with nutritious meal and education. Join hands with us today.

16 Years Ago, Akshaya Patra Began a Journey of Hope

It’s been 16 years and 16 lakh children are being benefitted through Food for Education initiative. On this yet another milestone, we would like to say Thank You!

The Mid-Day Meal Programme – Unlimited Food for Education, began in the year 2000 serving 1,500 children in Bengaluru. Today, over 1.6 million children across the length and breadth of India are supported by this initiative. Akshaya Patra’s journey was inspired by Srila Prabhupada’s compassionate vision that ‘No child should be deprived of education because of hunger.’

For Akshaya Patra, innovation has always been one of the driving forces. With advanced technology implemented kitchens, we are able to feed a large number of children. For instance, roti making machine has the capacity to churn out 200,000 rotis from 6000 kg of wheat flour. With help from Central and State Governments, the organisation has been able to expand its service in many states across 11 states in India. The organisation has also achieved many milestones and won prestigious awards that recognise its contribution in the development sector; the recent one was Nikkei Asia Prize for significant achievements in ‘Economic and Business Innovation’ category. Apart from feeding programme to feed the hungry, the organisation continues to conduct activities in schools such as health check-up camps, distribution of hygiene kits, school shoes and bags, and other initiatives that encourage a child to continue education.

Akshaya Patra’s 16 years of relentless efforts was founded with determination and compassion. We believe this journey will continue to impact many more children in the coming years. This year, as we also complete the serving of 2 Billion Meals, the Foundation acknowledges the outpouring support it has received over the last few years.

Let us pledge to support children’s education and health for a heal thier future!

The Different Techniques to Ensure Children Enjoy School

Children change their minds more quickly than grown-ups. One moment, they have an urge to play, another moment, they want to eat something specific. What’s the key to keep them motivated for school without repelling them from certain subjects? At Akshaya Patra, an NGO in India, we have first-hand experience of coping with this during the Mid-day Meal Programme run in schools in collaboration with the government.  Here’s what we have tried and tested over the years. We are happy to share this little piece of wisdom with parents who often struggle to send their kids to school.  

Fun enforcement or no enforcement 

Make sure that you learn to bite your tongue when children refrain from going to school. While it’s good to hear their reasons, you must also be able to tell when a child is only playing you. Count the things your child loves about school. It could be friends or a games period or a drawing class. If you really know what your kid is interested in, you will know what to say when sending them off to school. For instance, reward your children when they agree to go to school without tantrums. At Akshaya Patra, we encourage children to come to school so they have nutritious meals. Our sponsors who often donate for education in India find it fascinating how our volunteers and staff keep the children always excited for mid-day meals in schools.

Appreciation

Children have a forgiving heart and so they won’t hold a grudge that you sent them to school without their will. Most likely, they will not even remember it. So make sure you develop a habit of praising your child for any big or small achievement in class. Always be a proud parent and get your kids interested in extra-curricular activities. 

Plan sumptuous lunch

We have seen mothers who would cook sumptuous and nutritious lunch as a motivating factor for the children to eat during school. Akshaya Patra’s Mid-day Meal Programme in schools ensures that the lunch served is full of vegetables, proteins, dairy, grains, oils and nutrients. Just the whole excitement of opening the lunch box during school often gets children excited about school. 

Assure help in homework

Often children find school dreary and a burden due to the homework. They often feel overwhelmed and scared. Always be the parent who makes homework a team activity. Ensure you are always around to guide, instruct and help the child as he or she sits down for homework. That would assure the child of an ever-present help and would motivate them to look forward to school. 

Akshaya Patra is an NGO in India that has been running Mid-Day Meals Programme in schools since 2000. One of our biggest lessons during this programme over the years has been that children need motivation at every step in their lives. As for the Mid-Day Meal Programme, the organisation is working towards building a sustainable network of kitchens to reach five million children by 2020. If you are someone who is considering donating for education in India, you are welcome to join our mission.

Supporting Education through Mid-Day Meals

Many children in India (belonging to low-income families) find themselves thrown into the real-world battles quite early in life. In a country where Right to Education is a law, as many as 126,66,377 children work in various sectors only to earn their meal for the day.  Yet, a change has been brewing steadily where children today are opting education over work. 

Every Child Must be Educated

Earlier, many families considered a child to be an additional resource to fetch income to feed the family and to feed the children. This has considerably changed over the years. Thanks to the initiatives and schemes by the Government of India, many children are now encouraged to attend school. Additionally, when the children started to benefit from mid-day meal schemes in schools, they started bringing along their siblings which solved the problem of most parents. 

The Changes over the Years

The 1998 National Census of India estimated the total number of children workers, aged 4–15, to be at 12.6 million, out of a total child population of 253 million in 5–14 age group. The 2011 National Census of India found the total number of working children, aged 5–14, to be at 4.35 million, and the total child population to be 259.64 million in that age group. So yes, the numbers have declined but the problem of putting children to school remains to be solved.

A National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987 and ever since, the government has tried to ensure children attend school. One of the more remarkable steps of the government has been the enactment of ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act' or Right to Education Act also known as RTE. It was enacted on August 4 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. In addition, the government set off to accelerate the various policies about children’s education in its existing system.

One such step was the launching of Mid-Day Meal Scheme in 2004. This scheme has seen several reforms over the years with a view to include all of government schools in the system. The primary objective of Mid-Day Meal Programme is to feed one wholesome meal to children in order to encourage them to come to school. The government has tied up with organisations such as The Akshaya Patra Foundation in order to implement MDMS efficiently in schools to reach out to as many children as possible. Akshaya Patra, a children’s NGO began its school lunch programme in the year 2000 in Bengaluru.

Benefits of Mid-Day Meal Programme 

Children are now encouraged to attend school and this has so far proved to be a win-win for parents belonging to economically weaker sections. The parents are now realising that they can feed the children by relying on school lunch programmes. The Mid Day Meal Scheme has benefitted the children in more ways than one. Properly-fed children feel more motivated to work hard on their academics, experience an overall physical and mental growth and understand the importance of having ambitions for future.

Akshaya Patra reaches out to over 1.6 million children in 26 locations across 11 states of India, providing them with freshly cooked meals on all school days. A major portion of our resources comes from charity donations offered by generous donors across India. Several donors around the world help Akshaya Patra in various kinds of donations to feed the children - such as sponsoring a kitchen equipment or sponsoring a school for a year or donating a vehicle or through online and offline campaigning. It engages people to actively participate in charity donations so as to inspire several others.

The impact on the lives of the children has been tremendous ever since the organisation has implemented its Mid-Day Meal Programme. There are stories of hope where children have been benefitted for real in the mission of Food for Education. You can be part of this amazing cause of encouraging children to attend school. Sponsor a child today!

10 Ingredients that make Mid-Day Meal a Healthy Eat!

The 21st century has made us more food conscious than ever. We take interest in understanding the importance of healthy food, nutrition intake, and calories and so on. To simplify the food theories, we have even created food pyramids and graphs based on age groups. Today, we all know what kind of food is acceptable for children and what isn’t.

As an NGO, Akshaya Patra aims to feed the children the right amount of mid-day meals with sufficient nutritional values. We believe mid-day meal benefits every child. Before we share our little secret on keeping children healthy, here’s a bit of history on Nutrition. The word ‘Nutrition’ means ‘nourishment’ and first originated in Latin during early 15th century. Centuries later, when hunger was identified as an issue, a prefix Mal which means ‘bad’ was used to describe poor nutritional levels – malnutrition.

For Akshaya Patra, it is important that children receive the right amount of nutrients in their food. Here’s a list of ingredients used in mid-day meals along with their nutrition value:

To break the cycle of hunger among children, a country must do a lot – introduce nutritional school lunch programmes, ensure initiatives are reaching the target group, prioritise education, stabilise low-income families with subsidies and health care benefits, and many more. Akshaya Patra’s menu of mid-day meals is such that it covers the basics of nutrition intake and calories, making it one of the best diets for children!

Besides clothing and shelter, food is one of the basic needs for humans. We have reached a point in time where most of us are able to afford these basic needs however, lack of food among children continues to be a persistent issue. Let’s act to ensure children receive the two most important elements that can help them grow – food and education. Sponsor a child by donating Rs 950 and be assured that he or she will receive wholesome mid-day meals for an entire academic year!

Are Mid-Day Meals Playing a Role in a Student's Academics?

In the last five decades, literacy has evolved and shaped India in many facets - be it industrialisation, per capita or even the standard of living, literacy takes the credit. When you examine the literacy graph of India and compare numbers, the gradual developments bring a smile – thanks to the government benefits and donations for education in India. While there are many factors that play a role in achieving 100% literacy rate, a children’s NGO, Akshaya Patra, is focusing on enabling a student’s academic performance through food for education initiative – the Mid-Day Meal Programme.

Implemented in 2000, Akshaya Patra’s Mid-Day Meal Programme (food for education initiative) is now the world’s largest NGO-run feeding initiative based out of Bengaluru in Karnataka. Every day, over 1.6 million children are benefitted through this programme which prepares and delivers fresh-nutritious food to 13,260 schools at lunch time. 

Here’s a quick look at two main factors that affect a student’s academic performance:

Learning facilities and environment: It’s rather difficult to expect a child to learn in a classroom without sufficient study materials (text books, notepads, pen, and etcetera) and grasp lessons. It’s more problematic if the school is set up in a noisy surrounding and the exchange between teacher and students is put to a stop. While the government is making continuous efforts to provide provisions to children and build better infrastructure, many NGOs, with the help of education donations, have sprung to lend help to the government in ensuring children excel in their academics.

Socio-economic status: In many scholarly articles and research studies, it has been proved over and again that the socio-economic status of a family is an integral criterion for student’s performance – this includes the family members’ occupation and revenue which defines the economic condition. Akshaya Patra enables many families by providing a resource to their children – mid-day meals – which in turn lessens the strain of feeding a stomach in the house. To ensure the child does not have to bear the responsibilities of earning, the Foundation through its programme encourages every child to attend school and also be assured to eat healthy meals.

Why are Mid-Day Meals a boon to children?

It is a resource that stabilises education.  But along with it come nutrition, good health and well-being, academic achievement and quality performance. Akshaya Patra, with its dynamic initiative to provide food for education, has reached the milestone of serving more than 2 billion meals in the last 16 years. This milestone is a greater encouragement for the Foundation to continue its mission. 

Yes, mid-day meals are a boon to children and for the nation. Here’s why:

- More children enrol in schools

- Promotes socialisation among children

- Reduces classroom hunger

- Enhances a student’s performance (academic, sports and cultural)

A quick thought for the mind: Post-independence, India faced many challenges in the field of Growth and Development. However, through numerous benefit schemes and opportunities, we as nation, are witnessing change in every field. Akshaya Patra’s initiative too intends change. 

We believe every child deserves a fair chance and there is nothing more important than imparting education. Donate for education in India by joining Akshaya Patra in making every school a model of literacy development.

Celebrating Daan Utsav 2016

Daan Utsav – Joy of Giving Week 2016 is here! This week-long event brings many individuals a step closer to donate to charity and helps in making a difference in society. Through noble acts of giving, India’s biggest philanthropic festival inculcates kindness among all of us.

There’s a lot we can do to witness change and we believe change begins with you. Joy of Giving Week is one such platform that gives you opportunities to donate, make a difference and take with you a lasting pride of having contributed to society. Happiness is, after all, an act of giving.

About Akshaya Patra

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a Bengaluru-based children’s NGO, spreads joy with every meal served. After implementing its Mid-Day Meal Programme in 2000, the organisation’s beneficiary base has increased from 1,500 children to over 1.6 million children. In the last 16 years of its compassionate journey, Akshaya Patra has transformed the lives of many school children. This Daan Utsav, Akshaya Patra pledges to spread happiness with every meal. Help us enable more children to attend school – join us on the mission to feed 5 million children by 2020!

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Every day is a fresh start for school children and teachers. Their days are packed with classes, lessons, assignments, tests, physical activities and so on. A break during the day is where Akshaya Patra comes in – serving nutritious mid-day meals to these enthusiastic children who fearlessly dream of their future. Mid-day meals bring joy.

While India celebrates Joy of Giving week, read these testimonials by Akshaya Patra’s beneficiaries – every testimonial is an assurance that Mid-Day Meal Programme is indeed a boon for children.

“Joining the army will bring me a sense of pride. To fight for the country is the duty of every citizen in India. My dream started with my History lessons, where I was inspired by the many freedom fighters during India’s war for Independence. Many have fought for this country. Why can’t I do the same? I feel I am indebted to my country and I would like to serve my nation as an army officer. I love Akshaya Patra food for it gives me strength.”

- Darshan, Karnataka

“I enjoy the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal on all days but my favourite is Wednesdays and Saturdays. We get pulao, khichdi and kheer, which are my favourites. At home, my mother doesn’t cook these delicacies because we can’t afford it. When I grow up, I want to become an actress and act in Assamese movies. Someday, I want to travel the world with my family.”

- Pithali, Assam

“The mid-day meal has been a great relief for the parents. They feel that the children will at least get a nutritious meal if they attend school. Though the menu changes every day, the students look forward to eating dal-chawal, dal-dhokli, khichdi and sukhdi served by The Akshaya Patra Foundation. The children are able to enjoy the teaching process, since they are more attentive in class. They actively take part in various inter school sports activities too. The Mid-Day Meal Programme has positively impacted the children’s health in school.”

- Reshmi Patel, Teacher, Gujarat

Read all the stories at our website: Joy of Giving Week

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India’s biggest philanthropic event ends in a few days. Let’s take this opportunity to make a difference by donating to charity. Get involved in a cause today.

Your Contribution to an NGO can make Uttar Pradesh Hunger-Free

There are several parts of India that battle with challenges of nutrition, sanitation, electricity, education and the likes. But nutrition tops them all since lack of it can be life-threatening. India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh is home to over 1,210 million people. Now imagine the volume of work and the challenges the state government has to handle every single day.

Considering the situation in UP, children’s NGO in Lucknow, Akshaya Patra comes as a saviour to root out the problem of child hunger.  With 26 kitchens pan India, it has set itself out on a mission to provide children “Food for Education” with the help of its programme to deliver mid-day meals in Uttar Pradesh. 

The organisation aims at reaching out underfed children along with bringing them to classrooms. Non-profit organisation Akshaya Patra has its two locations with state-of-the-art centralised kitchens to provide mid-day meal in Uttar Pradesh - one in Lucknow and the other in Vrindavan. And today, we feed 2,32,615 children across 3,021 schools throughout UP. Akshaya Patra’s NGO in Lucknow, which was established in March 2015, satisfies the nutritional needs of 1,00,459 children across 1,011 schools. 

But to make the entire Uttar Pradesh hunger-free, we just cannot limit our efforts to this point! We need YOUR help too and here’s how you can help in making this happen:

Why should you feed the hungry?

According to an Annual Health Survey, Uttar Pradesh has 34 of 57 Indian districts to have been identified under poor health index. Based on severity, a UNDP report states that Uttar Pradesh falls among the states having hunger at an ‘alarming’ state. At a global scale, UN World Food Programme also reports that over 100 million children in developing countries are underweight.

Help in getting the word out

When you do something for others selflessly, you do a service to yourself and make your life worthwhile. This NGO in Lucknow gives you numerous ways to do so. You can Sign up as its Cyber Advocate and become an online volunteer, set up banners and engage people on online social media or write a blog. 

Help in raising funds

Buzz Aldrin had said - “If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.” So if we can reach the moon, we can also conquer the battle against hunger - Together.  With this belief and your help, you can help us with fundraising activities for our NGO in Lucknow by creating your own campaign, at home, in school or in your community.

With an amount of just Rs. 950, you get to make positive a difference in the life of one child for an entire academic year.

This way, your help won’t just lead to curbing one problem today, but would also help in avoiding many problems in future! Besides hunger, Mid-Day Meal Programme of Akshaya Patra aims to curb classroom hunger, increase school enrolment and attendance, improve socialisation among castes, and empower women through employment.

Spare a moment to pledge a donation, and you might create another story of hope! Nurture a life today.

Go Beyond Likes. Act Now!

How many of us go beyond liking a social cause post or appreciating such kind of initiative on social media? Do we make a difference after like a post? UNICEF last year rolled out a 43-second powerful video on hunger awareness ‘Likes don’t save lives.’ It compels you to think hard about the real issues plaguing our world. 

A country’s future lies in its children’s future. And sadly, hunger has been found to be the leading cause of children’s death in India. Also, a study finds that nearly 3,000 children die in India every day because they are underfed. Many children NGOs thus have taken up this cause on war-footing.

With Akshaya Patra, you can physically make a difference in just Rs 950, impacting a child’s life for a whole academic year. Being a Children’s NGO, we are making diligent efforts and taking strong steps to stop hunger. We have already served wholesome meals to over 2 million children so far and still counting. On an everyday basis, we feed more than 1.6 million children in 13,210 schools through our mid-day meal programme. Currently, we are present across 11 states in India.

Here’s how you can do more and make the real impact:

Help a child realise his dream 

Do you think any social issue could be solved by just liking a post? The answer is obviously a no - it won’t have any actual impact. The real difference lies in missions such as that of Akshay Patra that’s accelerating efforts to feed  5 million children per day by year 2020 along with creating wide awareness on hunger. It is our vision to witness a hunger-free India where children are rightfully provided with food and education. It’s a value that’s embedded in all of our staff, volunteers, donors and leaders. Here’s where you can nourish an actual dream of a child and become a true blessing for someone.

Choose to act today

At times, liking a post is a temporary rush to make a difference. While they do create awareness a large scale, the empathy you feel towards the issue eventually subsides. While social media is indeed a great and convenient platform to share, discuss and understand the surroundings, it is also our responsibility to choose to act. A small gesture of volunteering or contribution would bring a child to school.

You can become an NGO Volunteer and practically implement what you have been wanting for years.

Engage at a deeper level

We do spread the word through social media but we aren’t dependent on it. We encourage our donors and volunteers to increase their awareness on hunger by taking actions. The reason why we publish all of our activities and share them transparently is because we do not want just funds for the cause but we want hearts and minds too.  An amount of just Rs. 950 amounts to saving one child from hunger for one entire year.

Akshaya Patra allows you to make both online and offline donations. Help us feed more children and contribute in eliminating child hunger. That’s how you can truly get involved and really stop hunger. You never know how the kind of impact you create can inspire hope and positivity in a child’s life. Begin donating today!

6 Things You Should Know About Akshaya Patra in Hyderabad

“You can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery.” -- Dr. Norman Ernest Borlaug

Did you know that every 10 seconds we lose a child to hunger? Many NGOs are moving in this direction in order to fight off hunger. Akshaya Patra too rose up to the mission of the eradication of hunger at the grass root level. 

Akshaya Patra is a Non-Profit Organisation which runs Mid-Day Meal Programme in government schools and government-aided primary schools for children. The Government of India and various state governments are supporting the organisation to accomplish its goal of feeding millions of children and building a healthy India. Many philanthropic donors have come forward and contributed to this charity for children. The foundation kept its first stone in Bengaluru in the year 2000 and till date it has 25 kitchens across 10 states in India including Telangana. It extended the NGO in Hyderabad by building a centralised kitchen in October 2008. 

Here’s what you need to know about Akshaya Patra in Hyderabad.

1. The first footprints of the NGO in Hyderabad

With the vision “No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger,” Akshaya Patra propelled its branches to 10 states in India including the newly formed 29th state Telangana. It started its centralised kitchen unit in Hyderabad in the year 2008. The Akshaya Patra Kitchen prepares wholesome mid-day meals to government schools and Anganwadi children. 

2. Supplying food to thousands of underfed children

Akshaya Patra in Telangana currently feeds 62,020 children across 463 government schools and 25,768 Anganwadi children every day, through its centralised kitchen in Hyderabad. The NGO has its own 23 custom-made vehicles for the distribution of the mid-day meals to every classroom. Several generous supporters have contributed to Akshaya Patra’s programme of eliminating classroom hunger. It needs more hands to reach out to more children. You may choose to sponsor a child and take responsibility for providing him food and a healthy life. 

3. Inside the Akshaya Patra’s kitchen

The Akshaya Patra’s centralised kitchen in Hyderabad is equipped with state-of-the-art machinery perfected to cook an enormous amount of food for thousands of children at the same time. Though the huge quantity of food is supplied to thousands of classrooms from the single kitchen, the NGO doesn’t compromise with the quality and required nutrition. Feeding the hungry isn’t their only motive; they supply hygienic food containing all the required nutrients to children to ensure a good health. 

4. When a state-wide change began from Hyderabad 

In order to serve its mission of feeding 5 million hungry children by the year 2020, Akshaya Patra started building its kitchen in several states of India including Telangana. The NGO built the state’s first centralised kitchen in Hyderabad and now undertakes this charity for children with support from philanthropic donors along with the support from the state and central government. Hunger hasn’t ended yet but has definitely been thwarted to a great extent and would be rooted out with more support.

5.  Recognition of Akshaya Patra’s work and its kitchen

Several authorities have visited Akshaya Patra's huge centralised kitchen equipped with technologically advanced machinery. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation commissioner for the state visited the kitchen and appreciated the foundation’s endeavor of supplying cooked food to underfed children. The GHMC commissioner was moved by the dedication and efforts of the foundation towards changing the lives of children. Akshaya Patra is indebted to the state and the central government for their immense support.

6. Helping Hyderabad’s charity for children

Akshaya Patra needs more hands for continuing to work in Hyderabad. You may participate in the great cause and support it. You may choose to donate a little part of your income and take the responsibility of a child. 

Sponsoring a child takes Rs 750 that is used to feed a child throughout the year. Besides, on donating Rs 500 or above to Akshaya Patra, you become eligible for 100% tax exemption.