Reminiscing about childhood brings up memories of joy, laughter, carefree days, playtime with friends, and care received from family members. Well, more often than not; as the reality might be quite different from the usual for many children. May be some of us are already aware of it or maybe it’s a new finding for few others, the fact is there are approximately 8.1 million children in India who are out-of-school (Census 2001) owing to their challenging socio-economic backgrounds. The government and many charitable organisations are already working to alter this state of affairs by making children as their key focus area for various schemes and programmes.
Role of NGOs
The role of NGO in India is much more significant than meets the eye. There are many children NGOs working on various aspects of child care and development. Broadly, these organisations steer their efforts to ensure availability of healthcare, nutrition, education, and uphold child rights. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India supporting education of children since 2000 by providing healthy mid-day meals.
Mid-Day Meal Scheme
The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is an initiative of Government of India focussing on providing nutritious meals to children in Government schools and Government-aided schools. This Scheme has been remarkably instrumental in countering classroom hunger of millions of children across the country. Many NGOs have partnered with the Government to implement this Scheme so as to support children right from the grassroot level and create a sustainable change. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is operational for the past 18+ years making it a pioneer mid-day meal NGO in India.
Akshaya Patra’s journey of nourishing children
Established in 2000, The Akshaya Patra Foundation began its journey by providing school meals to just 1,500 children studying in five Government schools in Bengaluru. Today, this mid-day meal NGO provides freshly cooked nutrition-rich meals to 1,765,597 children studying in 15,668 Government and Government-aided schools situated in 45 locations across 12 states of India.
Over the years of supporting nutrition requirement of school-going children, this NGO in India has now expanded its wings to provide holistic development of its beneficiaries. Thus, along with providing mid-day meals, Akshaya Patra has initiated a handful of new child-centric programmes. Below is a quick overview of its programmes:
Programme & Benefits
Mid-Day Meal Programme: Supports education of children by taking care of their school lunch.
Stainless Steel Meal Plate and Tumbler Distribution Programme: Provides beneficiary children with clean and hygienic utensils to consume their mid-day meals.
Anganwadi Programme: Supports nutrition requirement of pregnant women, lactating mothers, and 3-6 years old children.
Scholarship Programme: Supports higher education of Akshaya Patra beneficiaries.
Giving Every Dream a Chance: Guides beneficiaries to hone their talents in various fields under the mentorship of academies and professionals.
School and Student Transformation Programme: Enhances learning and provides better school experience to children with revamped infrastructure and amenities.
Kashirampara Project: Supports mainstream school education and ensures wholesome food for tribal children of Tripura.
Contribute to transform lives of children
Join the effort and journey of nourishing children. With you choosing to donate online, it will pave way for a healthy and empowered India by making the vision, ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’ a reality. A single person can make a difference but when all of us act together, a lot can be changed and achieved!
Author Profile:
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a charitable trust in India implementing the Mid-Day Meal Programme along with several child-centric initiatives. Your support through online donation can instantly and potentially improve lives of millions of children across India and also benefit you with tax exemption.
