Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh in his Independence Day speech remarked that as a nation we have achieved a lot during the 65 years introspecting about what remains to be done. In his speech he said “Our children are the biggest strength of our country. If our children are provided with good education and are healthy, then our future would be bright.”

He also mentioned, “This is the reason why we have paid special attention to the needs of children in our policies and programmes.”

The education of children has been made mandatory by law. In the year 2006-07, only 93 per cent of children in the age group 6-14 years were getting admission in schools. Today almost all children in this age group are being admitted to schools.

He also stated, “More than 51,000 new schools have been opened in the country and about 7 lakh teachers appointed in them in just the last 2 years. Now we will focus on improving the quality of education. In the next few months we will put in place a system of continuous assessment of the benefit our children are getting from teaching. Participation of the community and parents would be ensured so that they can be satisfied with the quality of teaching. The Mid-day-meal scheme provides nutritious meals in schools for about 12 crore children everyday. This is the biggest scheme of its kind in the world.”

Malnutrition in children is a big challenge for us. We have taken steps in many dimensions to deal with this problem.

In the last 8 years, the number of mothers and children benefiting from the ICDS has doubled. The process of making the ICDS more effective is in its last stages and will be completed in the next 1 or 2 months.”

On this note Akshaya Patra applauds, indeed because of the Public- Private Partnership between the Central & state government and NGOs, Organization such as Akshaya Patra has effectively implemented Mid day meal Scheme in 19 locations of 9 states across the country reaching 13 lakh children every day. However malnutrition and hunger is still prevalent and children are still out of the school to earn their daily bread. We need to gear up and reach more children. With right resources we will be able to achieve our mission; to reach 50 lakh children every day with Akshaya Patra’s hot nutritious meal by year 2020.

Akshaya Patra depends on government subsidies and grain allotment for 57% of its cost and the rest however is raised from corporate and individuals from all over the world.

Read Prime Minister’s Independence speech 2012 (Full version)

When I heard about Akshaya Patra, I knew it was perfect for exactly what I wanted to do in India.  I come from a mixed background, where my father is from India and my mother is from UK.  However, being raised in America, I never really knew much about India.  I always wanted to travel here and learn about the country and its people and also, I wanted to contribute.  I wanted to help make India even greater than it already is, and I think Akshaya Patra is doing exactly that.  Akshaya Patra, through education, is literally building the future of India one meal at a time, and I find that fascinating.

The Kitchen Visit...

Before going to schools, I visited the Akshaya Patra kitchen in Bangalore early in the morning to get an idea of the entire process of food production.  What I saw astounded me.  Never before had I witnessed such an efficient and pragmatic facility dedicated entirely to making food.  The kitchens produced the basic nutritional essentials (rice, sambar, dal, and curd) for thousands of children in the span of just a few hours, utilizing hygienic methods of cooking and transportation within the facility.

Tasting the Akshaya Patra mid day meal...

Before we left to some of the schools, we ate some of the rice and sambar for lunch.  At first, I was skeptical as to whether it would taste okay because it was produced in such massive quantities so quickly.  But upon my first bite I realized – It was delicious. In many cases, the food provided by Akshaya Patra surpasses the quality of the food served in public schools in the United States.

At the School…

I followed the food bus to two small schools a few kilometers away from the kitchen.  There we saw students eating, playing, and laughing during their lunch period.  In the first school, we spoke with a small boy named Prasanna after he sat down with his friends to eat rice and sambar.  He explained to us that he, like most of his friends, doesn’t eat at home.  His family can’t afford it.  So instead, he comes to school, where Akshaya Patra provides a nutritional, hot, tasty, and filling meal.  If it weren’t for these meals, Prasanna and so many others like him wouldn’t even go to school.  They would instead do menial jobs like sweeping and washing dishes to earn enough money for a meal.  I took the liberty to take some pictures of the students.  But I didn’t realize how much they would enjoy being photographed!

What the visit to the school and kitchen meant to me…

The visit to both the kitchen and the schools was a completely new experience for me, and it really made me understand what Akshaya Patra was all about.  Seeing and speaking with the students made them real to me and I truly realized why Akshaya Patra is so important to the future posterity of India.  If only everyone in the world could visit the schools in the same way as I did; then Akshaya Patra would have so much support that hunger would be obsolete in India.  I really do believe that the goal is attainable in the future, but there is still a long way to go.

Kavi Mathur

Grade 12

Rutgers Prep school

Somerset, New Jersey

USA