Akshaya Patra: No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger
When i first heard about Akshaya Patra foundation, I was sure that the man behind this mission was an Oriya, since Patra is a Oriya title. But only when I read about it, I realised that Akshay Patra is a name derived from Sanskrit which means 'inexhaustible vessel'. In Hindu mythology, this wonderful vessel given to Yudhishthira by the Sun god, Surya, which held a never-failing supply of food to the Pandavas every day.
It was precisely with this symbolic meaning, which led its founders dream that food for chicldren should never be exhaustible. Akshaya Patra is a not for profit, Bangalore based secular trust that supplies school meals to underprivileged school children. Formed in Bangalore in 2000, Akshaya Patra started with feeding 1500 kids and today it has grown to a whooping 825,000 kids in more than 4500 schools everyday. Today, it is the worlds largest NGO-run school meal program in the world. It intends to benfit 1 million children in two years.
It was precisely with this symbolic meaning, which led its founders dream that food for chicldren should never be exhaustible. Akshaya Patra is a not for profit, Bangalore based secular trust that supplies school meals to underprivileged school children. Formed in Bangalore in 2000, Akshaya Patra started with feeding 1500 kids and today it has grown to a whooping 825,000 kids in more than 4500 schools everyday. Today, it is the worlds largest NGO-run school meal program in the world. It intends to benfit 1 million children in two years.
With food being offered six days a week at school, the attendance level has shot up. Food acts as the much needed fillip for kids to come to school, since most of them belong to families lying under poverty line.
The information provided is collected from the sources online. But now, I would want to witness this through my own eyes as to how such a mammoth task of cooking 1000000 meals is orcehstrated. There has to be a team of experts and dedicated workforce to bring this to action. And in my attempt to do so, I was visible pleased to see some very famous names from the corporate world. Infosys is leading from the front redifining the meaning of capitalism and moulding it towards social upliftment.
The few renouwned names in the trustees are:
- T. V. Mohandas Pai
Director HR & Board Member
Infosys Technologies Ltd. - Ramdas Kamath
Vice President,
Finance & Administration
Infosys Technologies Ltd. - V. Balakrishnan
CFO, Infosys Technologies Ltd
Board of Advisors
Former Chief Justice of India
Rakesh Mittal
Managing Director,
Bharti Televenture Ltd,
Commissioner
Bangalore Mahanagara Palike,
This bodes well for the future of India, that the wealth makers are giving back to the society. They are indeed redifining capitalism.
PS: You can donate online at using credit card. Its costs $28 to feed a kid for one whole year. You can save some tax too.For volunteering opportunities please contact infodesk@akshayapatra.org
Some pics from Bangalore AkshayaPatra kitchen
1 comments:
It is really nice to hear about the mamoth organisation . Thanks in letting other through blogs.
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