NGO in Gujarat & Its Kitchen
by Akshaya Patra NGO in India - Akshaya PatraIn 1984, Gujarat became the second state after Tamil Nadu to
implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Over the years, it has been observed that
this scheme has had significant improvement in the nutritional and educational
status among children. According to 2011 Census, the literacy rate in Gujarat
had risen to 79.31% as compared to 69.14% in 2001, with a male literacy rate of
87.23% and female literacy of 70.73%. As a supporting arm to government’s
effort in improving educational scenario, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO in Ahmedabad began its mid-day
meal service in the state in 2009.
Akshaya Patra is an Indian mid-day meal NGO headquartered in
Bengaluru, Karnataka. It has been in the service of providing mid-day meal
since 2000. The Foundation began its journey of providing nutritious meals to
the children of Gujarat by establishing its first kitchen in Vadodara in 2009.
Currently, this NGO is feeding a total of 4,07,452 children in 1,621 government
schools across the state.
Akshaya Patra Kitchens in Gujarat
Akshaya Patra is providing mid-day meal in Gujarat
from its five centralised kitchens located in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Vadodara,
Surat, and Kalol. Of these, three kitchens namely Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and
Surat are ISO 22000:2005 certified kitchens and the Bhavnagar and Kalol
kitchens are in the process of certification. Each of the kitchens strictly
adheres to hygiene and cleanliness practices while preparing meals. To enhance
productivity and efficiency of operational processes, Kaizen, Continuous Improvement
Projects and Six Sigma methodologies have been adopted in these kitchens.
All the kitchens are highly mechanised cooking units
equipped with roti-making machines, cauldrons, trolleys, rice chutes, grinding
machines, potato peeler machines, vegetable cutting machines, atta kneaders, RO
plants, and rice-cleaning machines. Each of the kitchens has dedicated
customised delivery vehicles to transport cooked meals to all beneficiary
schools.
Menu of Gujarat kitchens
So that each child enjoys their school lunch, the meal menu
of Gujarat kitchens consists of various native items to suit the local taste.
Some of the menu items are: Peas pulao, kabuli chana pulav, vegetable pulav,
groundnut jeera pulav, soya chunks pulao, lauki khichdi, jeera rice, plain rice,
soya dal, chana dal, dal fry, mixed dal, roti, thepla with til and mix
vegetables, thepla with potato, thepla with louki, mix vegetable curry, mixed
vegetable with desi chana, and dal dhokli.
Eco-friendly measures in kitchens
Alike all kitchens of Akshaya Patra, this NGO in Ahmedabad
also implements various eco-friendly measures in its kitchen operations to save
cost and reduce carbon footprint while maintaining the efficiency of
production. Some of the initiatives taken in the kitchens of Gujarat are:
• PNG(
Piped Natural Gas) for cooking
• Plantation
and agriculture in small scale
• Bio-gas
Plant
• Effluent
Treatment Plant(ETP)
• LED
lighting in the kitchens
Socio-developmental initiatives
While focussing on their core activity of providing mid-day meal
in Gujarat, the kitchens have also taken several socio-developmental
initiatives for the betterment of the beneficiaries and the society. Some of
the initiatives are:
• Providing
meals at Anganwadi centres, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS),
Government Hospitals, and Pawagar Mandir
• Cookies
distribution
• Shoe
Distribution
• Swachh
Bharat Abhiyaan
• Health
camps and check-ups
• School activities like fairs and exhibition, school visits to kitchen, guest visits to beneficiary schools, and symbolic feeding
As a mid-day meal NGO, Akshaya Patra wants to benefit more children with its wholesome meals. While it is receiving aid from government and donors, it needs your support too. You can instantly be a part of the NGO’s endeavour by contributing online donations for NGO. You can also make a difference by opting to adopt a school or donate a vehicle for delivering meals to schools. Your contribution will not only provide school lunch, but it will also give an opportunity to children to attend school and benefit from the much-needed education and other school activities that will support their overall development as responsible citizens. So, step up and support the mid-day meal programme of Akshaya Patra.
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Created on May 21st 2018 04:57. Viewed 568 times.