Akshay Patra’s Hubballi Kitchen visited by the Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus

The Nobel Laureate, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank visited the Hubballi kitchen of Akshaya Patra, a widely known and globally acknowledged nonprofit organization on 7th February 2016. Various renowned dignitaries like Anousheh Ansari, Co-founder, Chairwoman and CEO of Prodea Systems and Dr “Desh” Deshpande of the Deshpande Foundation accompanied Prof. Yunus.

Sridhar Venkat, CEO-Akshaya Patra along with other members of the organization extended a warm welcome to Prof. Yunus and the other visitors. Mr. Venkat acquainted Prof. Yunus about the operations of the NGO and its process of catering to school students in and around Hubballi.

Talking about his visit prof. yunus highlighted the noble causes of akshay patra stating that,“This has been a great visit and it is wonderful to see how Akshaya Patra is reaching out to children in a huge way and addressing malnutrition for India’s children.

He further added that, “Akshaya Patra is dealing with the critical issue of malnutrition in a manner so beautifully that nobody can beat it and hence it should further scale up so that more number of children can receive Akshaya Patra’s meals and become physically fit and mentally ready to absorb things around.”

Overwhelmed by the kitchen tour, Anousheh Ansari said, “I was completely blown away looking at the kitchen operation, the attention given to every step of the process and quality control. I walked into the kitchen and the aroma was so appetizing which clearly indicates the great quality of the meals. I cannot think of a better purpose one can dedicate their lives to than serving food to children. The dedication with which the team functions is amazing; working on weekends to make sure that hot meals are served to children is a validation of the wonderful job that you guys are doing. Congratulations!”

The overall excellence of the organization and its commendable services to the society were acknowledged in the form of an award presented to Sridhar Venkat by Prof. Muhammad Yunus and Dr “Desh” Deshpande at the Development Dialogue, 2016 held at the Deshpande Foundation.

Expressing his delight and gratitude Mr. Venkat stated that, “It was an honour to welcome Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate, Founder of Grameen Bank to Akshaya Patra Hubballi. Prof.  Yunus encouraged Akshaya Patra for the work which we are doing and spent quality time in the early morning hours on 7 February, Sunday. We at Akshaya Patra are thankful to Prof. Yunus and his colleagues for taking out time on a Sunday morning to visit the Akshaya Patra kitchen. This will further encourage us to reach out to a multitude of children and serve them better.”