Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF) is in readiness to feed its delicious, healthy mid-day meals to over one lakh children, per kitchen, in Uttar Pradesh (U.P) by launching 11 new kitchens in the state. Akhilesh Yadav, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, announced the creation of these kitchens with the ‘Shilanyas’ (ground breaking ceremony) in Lucknow.
APF will establish these new kitchens in the districts of Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur, Etawah, Kannauj, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Rampur and Ballia.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri MadhuPandit Dasa, Chairman – The Akshaya Patra Foundation said, “We are thankful to the Honourable Chief Minister Shri Akhilesh Yadav and the Government of Uttar Pradesh for reposing confidence in our foundation and for sponsoring the land and the kitchen facilities for eliminating class room hunger in the state.
Owing to this unwavering support, Akshaya Patra has been able to feed more than 1.3 million children in Uttar Pradesh each day, which depicts a successful Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the field of nutrition, education and child welfare not only in India but worldwide. We are totally committed to work hand in hand with the government to establish Akshaya Patra kitchens and provide nutritious mid-day meals to deprived children.”
Several dignitaries marked their valued presence at the event including Shri Ahmad Hasan, Cabinet Minister for Basic Education; Shri Kailash Chourasiya, Minister for Women and Child Welfare; Shri Wasim Ahmed, Minister for Child Development and Nutrition, Primary Education and Energy; Shri Rajendra Choudhury, Cabinet Minister for Political Pension; Shri Ram Govind Choudhury, Minister for Panchayat Raj; Shri Pradeep Mathur, MLA, Mathura constituency; Shri Alok Ranjan, Chief Advisor to Shri Akhilesh Yadav; Shri Rahul Bhatnagar, Chief Secretary; Shri Ajay Kumar Singh, Secretary, Basic Education; Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation and Shri Suvyakta Narasimha Dasa, President, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, U.P.
In U.P itself, Akshaya Patra currently feeds 1,05,000 children and 66,000 children from its Vrindavan and Lucknow kitchens respectively, totaling to 1,71,000 children across 3021 schools.