NGO in Uttar Pradesh & Its Kitchen

Reportedly, over the next 10 years, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will be home to 31% of the youngest Indian population between five and 14 years. Specifically, Uttar Pradesh already tops the list of child population in the country with 200 million aged between five and 14 years. This indicates that soon this 200 million will be a part of the country’s workforce, making the health and education of this young population a matter of utmost importance, not just for the progress of the state but for the nation as a whole. Unfortunately, the current education scenario in Uttar Pradesh is not a very pleasant sight with its low literacy rate of just 67.7%. In addition, the Unified-District Information System for Education (U-DISE) Flash Statistics 2015-16 reports that Uttar Pradesh has the worst student-teacher ratio in India and it also has the poorest transition rate from primary to upper primary school. The state also ranks poorly in learning outcome even though it has a higher per-student spending compared to the rest of the country. The Government has taken several steps to improve this prevailing critical situation, and Mid-Day Meal Scheme is one of the important interventions. The efforts of the government to provide mid-day meals have been furthered by The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a mid-day meal NGO in Lucknow and Vrindavan.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a mid-day meal NGO in India. Established in 2000 and headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, the NGO currently feeds more than 1.7 million children of 14,173 government schools in 36 locations of 12 states in India. It began its journey of providing mid-day meal in UP in 2004 by establishing a centralised kitchen in Lucknow. In total, Akshaya Patra is currently reaching out to 2,11,680 children in 3,021 schools in the state.

As a NGO in Lucknow, Akshaya Patra provides mid-day meals to 91,418 children in 1,011 government schools and in Vrindavan the NGO provides school lunch to 1,20,262 children in 2,010 government schools.

The Foundation has established hi-tech centralised kitchens in both the locations. These kitchens are equipped to prepare 1 lakh meals per day and they serve locally palatable meals like roti (Indian flatbread) with sabzi (vegetable curry) along with other native food items for the main reason that maximum children should eat their school lunch readily and joyfully and reap the benefits of nutritious meals.

Since roti is a staple item in the North Indian menu, the Lucknow and Vrindavan kitchens are equipped with roti making machines. These machines have the capacity to roll out up to 200,000 rotis from 6000 kilograms of wheat flour. Aside from roti making machines, these kitchens are equipped with rice cauldrons of at least 500 litres capacity, dal cauldrons with the capacity to cook 1200 litres to 3000 litres, trolleys, rice chutes, cutting boards, knives and other similar equipment. The cooked meals are packed in insulated vessels and are transported to schools in insulated vehicles. The delivery vehicles are enabled with GPRS tracking system for safety and on-time delivery of meals.

Alike all kitchens, the Lucknow and Vrindavan kitchens strictly adhere to hygiene and cleanliness practices while preparing meals and both are ISO 22000:2005 certified kitchens. Since Kaizen, Continuous Improvement Projects and Six Sigma methodologies form an integral part of Akshaya Patra kitchens, the same is practiced in Lucknow and Vrindavan kitchens too. As an NGO providing mid-day meal in UP, Akshaya Patra has observed significant improvements in various fronts. According to a third party study conducted by Sigma Research and Consulting Pvt. Ltd. in 2014, Uttar Pradesh showed a positive trend in the following variables: elimination of classroom hunger, social equity, nutrition and health, enrolment, and retention and attendance. It scored a total of 9.43 on a scale of 10, thus revealing that mid-day meal has had a significant impact on children.

This NGO in Lucknow wants to expand its reach and benefit more children in the state. But, in doing so, it requires support from you. You can be a part of the NGO’s endeavour to nourish children by either contributing funds or by opting to donate a vehicle to deliver meals to schools. Your contribution will ensure that children receive at least one nutritious meal per day. It will also make you a part of the change that will get manifested in the form of healthy and educated generation. Step forward, contribute, and be a part of nourished and educated India.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an Ngo in India providing food for 1.6 million school children across 12 States and 28 locations.