ISKCON - Akshaya Patra in Limca Book of Records

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has found a place in the Limca Book of Records for being the largest NGO-run school meal programme. Under the programme, over 9.7 lakh children studying in over 5,700 government, government-aided schools and day care centres in 16 locations in India are fed on any given day. The programme is run by the Akshay Patra Foundation in partnership with central and respective state governments, a release said here today.
"The entry into the Limca Book of Records, comes as a recognition of Akshaya Patra& achievement in enabling needy children to receive education even as they are fed at least one wholesome meal a day,"said Madhu Pandita Das of the Foundation. Under the programme, mid-day meals are provided in Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Bellary, Mangalore and Mysore in Karnataka, Jaipur, Nathdwara and Baran in Rajasthan, Vrindavan and Mathura district in UP, Puri and Nayagarh in Orissa, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad in Gujarat and Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The programme uses centralised, automated kitchens for cooking food which is then distributed to schools. The kitchens can cook about 100,000 meals in less than five hours with least human intervention.

WHY ISCKON STARTED AKSHAYA PATRA

Every year, 2.5 million children die in India, accounting for one in five deaths in the world. More than half of these deaths could be prevented if children were well nourished. India's progress in reducing child malnutrition is very slow. The proven path to helping the poor, is by educating them. Providing food works as an important factor that encourages education; this in turn enables overall development transforming lives and communities. A hungry child cannot be expected to have an urge for education. We provide nutritious meals to about 1 million children - with a vision to encourage education amongst the poor.
Many impoverished children performed poorly in school due to short attention spans associated with extreme hunger. Other children either did not enroll in school, or dropped out at a young age choosing to seek work during the school day to earn money to feed themselves and their families. Earlier, school meals was irregular and in many places non-existent. Responding to pressure from the people, the Supreme Court of India passed an order on November 28, 2001 which mandated: "Cooked midday meal is to be provided in all the government and government-aided primary schools in all the states." Akshaya patra partakes this responsibility.

HOW MUCH A MEAL COSTS

The Akshaya Patra program is conducted in partnership with the various State Governments and Central Government. All of these governments provide a subsidy to support about 50% of the running cost of the Akshaya Patra program. The Central Government support is routed through the respective State Governments. The summary of subsidies in different states, as on November 2008, are listed below:

Karnataka Rs.1.80 for students in class 1 to 7 + 100 gms of rice per day per student.Rs.2.20 for students in class 8 to 10 + 150 gms of rice per day per student
Uttar Pradesh Rs.2.00 for students in class 1 to 5Rs.2.50 for students in class 6 to 9
Rajasthan Rs.2.00 for students in class 1 to 5 + 100 gms grainsRs.2.50 for students in class 6 to 8 + 150 gms grains
Orissa Rs.2.38 for students in class 1 to 5 + 100 gms grainsRs.2.74 for students in class 6 to 8 + 150 gms grains
Gujarat Rs.2.00 for students in class 1 to 7 + 50 gms of rice + 50 gms of wheat
Andhra Pradesh Rs.3.00 for students in class 6 to 10 + 150 gms of rice

This program is also supported by industry houses, foundations, individuals and philanthropists for the balance of the running costs (about 50%) and for setting up and maintenance of the centralized kitchen infrastructure.

If anyone are interested in helping the poor children to get nutritious food and education, pls. contact ISKCON at your place or mail to infodesk@akshayapatra.org or call the toll free number 1800 425 8622.

Note: U can personal check the quality of food and its preparation by visiting the ISKCON.


Regards,
Tirumalanath
tirumalanath.neelaiagari@gmail.com
For more information, visit www.akshayapatra.org