Its 12 noon
at the government school in DJ Halli, northeast Bengaluru. Hundreds of little
faces are fixed on the van that has carried their lunch. For 15 years, every
afternoon, the Bengaluru headquartered Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF) has been
bringing smiles on faces of 1.4 million children.
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And in a few weeks, it will serve its
two billionth meal.
APF, founded by IITian Madhu PanditDasa who was conferred the Padma Shri last month, is the world’s largest school
lunch
“I still remember the day when I took
the first meal to a government school. The children loved it. I did not believe
that we would go with the food the next day. But for 15 years now, we have been
able to sustain,” Dasa said. From ensuring that no child in India shall be deprived
of education because of hunger, the scheme has won many accolades for its
transparency, hygiene and tech savvy delivery of cooked meals.
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Says APF CEO Shridhar Venkat: “Growth
has not been a challenge but sustainably growing is a challenge. Every time we
start a kitchen, children come with a hope that they will get a good meal every
day. Ensuring food safety especially at the school level which is the last mile
and on a daily basis is a challenge. The road ahead is to implement innovative ideas
in operations, fundraising and sourcing. We also would like to freely share our
learnings with any organisation or an individual who wants to work on
alleviating hunger amongst children.”
APF trustee T V Mohandas Pai told TOI:
“I think the reason for our success has been how different competencies which
are mutually inclusive and collectively exclusive have come together to fight
hunger among children.”
PM Narendra Modi has congratulated
the foundation for the milestone. “I am happy to learn that the foundation will
complete 15 years of serving midday meal to schoolchildren and will serve its
second billionth meal soon. These milestones and efforts inspire many to serve
children,” he said.
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