From the whole of the Akshaya Patra family, wishing everyone a Happy Kannada Rajyotsava!

The 1st of every November is Kannada Rajyotsava, a day when a sense of pride fills the hearts of Kannadigas as ‘Jai Karnataka’ reverberates in the entire state. On this day, all Kannada speaking areas were merged into a new state that was initially called Mysore. In 1973 on this very day, the name of this state was changed to Karnataka. The birth of a Kannada speaking state is celebrated as Kannada Rajyotsava where Rajyotsava comes from two words – ‘Rajya’ meaning state and Utsava meaning festival.

The whole state is decorated with red and yellow while Karnataka flags are hoisted in every location and the state anthem ‘Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate’ is sung in communities, associations, other establishments, etc. Many NGOs too celebrate this day with great fervour, celebration and arrange for special lunch for their beneficiaries.

In many schools – both private and public, a sense of patriotism is tingled in every child by arranging for debate competitions, fancy dress competitions and enacting skits and plays. This is mostly followed by a special lunch for all the children.

Akshaya Patra, Akshara Dasoha and the connection with Karnataka
In 2000, The Akshaya Patra Foundation started providing school meals to children in Bangalore under its own school lunch programme to support their education and nutrition. To verify the efficacy of the lunch scheme, this NGO in Bangalore was called in for its testimony, post which, the Mid-Day Meal Programme was mandated. Integrating the centrally sponsored scheme – the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NPNSPE), the State Government launched the Akshara Dasoha Scheme [Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme] in June 2002.

Nutritious meals are prepared by Akshaya Patra in Karnataka from its seven kitchens – V.K. Hill (Bengaluru), H.K. Hill (Bengaluru), Jigani (Bengaluru), Hubballi, Mangaluru, Mysuru and Ballari. The kitchens in V.K. Hill, Jigani and H.K. Hill are ISO 22000:2005 certified, the Ballari and Hubballi kitchens are ISO 22000:2005, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 certified. The kitchens of Mysuru and Mangaluru are under the process of certification. In every kitchen, locally palatable meals are served to its beneficiaries to ensure that there is no wastage of food.

Akshaya Patra is extremely grateful to The Government of India, State Governments, District Authorities, individual partners, corporate donors and volunteers for constant support over the last 20 years.

Kannada Rajyotsava amid the COVID crisis
This is the second year in a row when the festivities of this special day will be minimized; all due to the pandemic. As schools were shut for a very long time, Akshaya Patra expanded from providing unlimited food for children to unlimited food for everyone in need.

This NGO in Bangalore has served a cumulative of 2,14,01,130 meals in the form of:
• Cooked meals served to every individual in need
• Happiness Kits to mid-day meal beneficiaries
• Family Happiness Kits to vulnerable families
• Raksha Kits as an incentive to help people get vaccinated
• Shakti Kit to nourish expecting mothers.

What Next?
As we all hope for the effect of the pandemic to decrease, life to go back to normal, schools and colleges to reopen, Akshaya Patra is gearing up to serve safe meals to children of Karnataka. All the kitchens of this NGO are being sanitized and cleaned to deliver hygienic food to children studying in Government and Government-aided schools. Donate online to support this NGO in Bangalore to take care of children’s nutritional requirements daily.

Dedicate this Kannada Rajyotsava to the children of Karnataka.
Support their food and education today!

India is a country that has an abundance of festivals to celebrate. Being born in such a country, these occasions are what we look forward to and they are something that gets us all excited.

Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on the first full moon of the Hindu month – Sharavana, where the relationship between siblings is celebrated. This becomes a symbol of love, promise and protection. If we go back to what our mythology says, there is a story from the great epic – Mahabharata. Lord Krishna’s finger gets injured and starts bleeding. On seeing this, Draupadi tears her saree to bandage his wound. Krishna respected concern and affection hence was moved by this gesture. He felt bound by this sisterly act of love and compassion. In return for the favour, Krishna promised to repay this debt of gratitude with a promise that he would help and protect her from any harm. In this way, the saree becomes the sacred thread called ‘Rakhi’ and the promise of protection has carried forward.

Not only is Raksha Bandhan celebrated between brothers and sisters, but it is also celebrated among cousins, soul sisters, sworn sisters & brothers, etc. It is a day where we extend the celebrations beyond the four walls of our homes and blood relations. This is what The Akshaya Patra Foundation is doing this year. It is reaching out to people who are in need.

This Indian NGO – Akshaya Patra has taken to protect the lives of underprivileged people and deprived. Since the pandemic, the conditions of these communities have worsened. After the vaccine roll-out, these sections of society have been left out as they have no access to digital devices or know how to register for vaccination.

To augment India’s ‘Free Vaccination for All’ programme, incentivized vaccine drives are conducted by Akshaya Patra in association with a Hospital Partner and Vaccination Partner to help the vulnerable sections. These drives aim to reduce vaccine hesitancy and up vaccine intakes in low-income populations. In this drive, people get inoculated, receive snacks and a Raksha Kit that helps cook 21 meals.

This Raksha Bandhan, provide Raksha Kits while you help the underprivileged get vaccinated. Donate online to Akshaya Patra to incentivize people to attend more such upcoming drives.

Let this Raksha Bandhan protect more people than just your blood relatives. Extend your wall of care and concern to include people in need.