From pots to plates: Journey of midday meals

 How does a midday meal reach a child who is in a government or government-aided school?

SUPPORT AKSHAYA PATRA IN FEEDING MID-DAY MEALS TO SCHOOL CHILDREN ACROSS INDIA.

Akshaya Patra’s COVID Relief Programme

 The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India that primarily implements the Central Government’s Mid-Day Meal Programme. When disaster strikes a state or a city, the Foundation steps up to assist them with food requirements. Since March 2021, Akshaya Patra has provided cooked and packed meals to people who suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As on 15^th November 2021, the organisation has served a cumulative of 20-crore meals in 65 locations of India.

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Akshaya Patra's New Kitchens

 

 A Musician and the CEO of an NGO share their experiences with an educationist on how the pandemic impacted their lives.

International Day of the Girl Child

11 October of every year is observed as the International Day of the Girl. The day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights (United Nations). The International Day of the Girl was first observed in 2012 and since then this day is observed with a dedicated theme each year; the theme for 2018 being ‘With Her: A Skilled Girl Force’. This theme will focus on creating a concerted effort of the entire society in terms of awareness and investment to address the needs and opportunities for girls to acquire skills for employability. It has been reported that about 600 million adolescent girls will enter the workforce in the next decade. And, more than 90% of them belong to the developing countries where they will be employed in the informal sector with low or no pay, abuse and exploitation (United Nations). And, as the current sphere of work is ruled by innovation and automation, this year’s theme focusses on global participation to help girls for a smooth and successful transition into being educated skilled workers.

Many NGOs – national and international – are already working for uplifting lives of girl children. Right from aggressive campaigning to save girl child to supporting their education, providing for their basic needs, and protecting their rights, these NGOs focus their core activities towards total development and progress of girls. The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGOin India that provides mid-day meals to school-going children also encourages enrolment and continued schooling of girl children. Akshaya Patra is headquartered in Bengaluru and was established in 2000 with the vision, ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’. The NGO’s motto is to ensure every child, be it girl or boy, receives ‘unlimited food for education’. Presently, it provides wholesome meals to 17,61,734 children in 38 locations across 12 states of India, on each school day, and this includes remarkable number of girl children too.

Here are few snippets of girl beneficiaries of this NGO in India:

“Girls are very scared to go out by themselves, as they face much harassment. I want to protect myself and other girls by becoming a policewoman and teach men a lesson. The boys in my locality are scared of me. I don’t tolerate any nonsense and give it back and fight with them. People must be disciplined and the country should be safe for all the citizens. This is my dream.” - Ramita Pratap Mankar, Nagpur.

“Due to corruption, people who are in need of the several government schemes are not able to avail the benefits. I want to become a District Collector and make my state corruption-free and ensure that people get the benefits of various schemes.” – Y. Lalita, Visakhapatnam.

“The Siachen incident where 10 soldiers were buried underneath snow, changed my perception about the armed forces. I understood the risks soldiers take to safeguard our nation. I was filled with admiration and respect for the sacrifices they make and hence I want to join the Indian Army. This will be my tribute to all the martyrs and the soldiers who work day in and day out for the nation.” - Lakshmi Bai, Karnataka.

As can be seen, by providing nutritious meals Akshaya Patra is remarkably supporting education of girl children. And, by doing so, the NGO is preparing them to be healthy, educated, self-dependent, and skilled woman in the near future. And, this closely resonates with the theme of the International Day of the Girl 2018.

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The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a mid-day meal NGO in India serving more than 1.76 million children across 12 states of India. The NGO aims to feed 5 million children by 2020.