The month of August saw heavy rains in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan, and surrounding areas, causing residents of the region to face flash floods, displacement and food insecurity. Thousands were rendered homeless and a few people were killed in the heavy downpour. At the request of district administration, the Akshaya Patra Foundation came to the rescue of the flood victims and distributed over 50,000 meals in the disaster affected areas.  

From August 22nd to September 8th, 2012, Akshaya Patra distributed food in the low lying areas of Jaipur in colonies such as Bhatta Basti, Shastri Nagar, and Jahawar Nagar. The Akshaya Patra distribution vans were stationed near the water logged areas while food was hand carried to the affected places. The officers from the food & civil supplies department, police and district administration guided the relief operation. The Foundation continued to support the district in relief efforts until the threat had passed.

Recently, the District Collector of Jaipur, Sri. Naveen Mahajan, recognized the services of Akshaya Patra during the flood. Sri. Naveen Mahajan awarded a certificate of appreciation to Rathnangada Dasa, Unit President Akshaya Patra Jaipur, who received the honor on behalf of the Foundation.

“We are pleased that we were able to assist and provide some relief to the Jaipur community during this trying time”, said Madhu Sridhar, President and CEO of Akshaya Patra USA. “Our involvement in the communities we serve goes beyond providing mid-day meals to school children as we are invested in the success of the children’s families as well. Akshaya Patra will continue to, as it always has, provide its services during natural disasters.”

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the world’s largest NGO-run midday meal programs feeding over 1.3 million children in over 9,000 schools throughout 10 states of India. A public-private partnership, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver school lunch at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world. It costs Akshaya Patra only $15 to feed a child for an entire year. This meal gives these children an incentive to come to school, stay in school and provides them with the necessary nutrients they need to develop their cognitive abilities to focus on learning. In August of 2012, Akshaya Patra served its billionth meal.

In a short time, the foundation has grown to become the largest, and certainly most innovative, school lunch program in the world. Akshaya Patra is a great example of what can be accomplished when the public sector, private sector and the civic society collaborate-- a cost effective, scalable solution with high quality service delivery. After reaching its initial goal of feeding one million children each school day, Akshaya Patra’s next milestone is to serve 5 million children daily by 2020.

For more information please visit www.foodforeducation.org

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