Akhilesh Yadav, Honourable Chief Minister Uttar Pradesh inaugurates Akshaya Patra kitchen in Lucknow

BENGALURU, India - March 20, 2015 - PRLog -- Lucknow, March 15, 2015: The Honourable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Sri Akhilesh Yadav, inaugurated The Akshaya Patra Foundation's latest kitchen facility in Lucknow today. The Guest of Honour Mr. Ram Govind Chaudhary, Minister for Basic Education was present during the inaugural ceremony. The representatives from the Caterpillar Foundation, the principal investor of the kitchen and other dignitaries were also present.

Akshaya Patra implements the mid-day meal programme in partnership with the Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Government of India to benefit the children studying in the Government schools.

Sri Akhilesh Yadav was very glad to inaugurate a kitchen infrastructure in Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. The Honourable Chief Minister also took a tour of the kitchen where he witnessed the operations of the centralised kitchen and commended Akshaya Patra's work. Sri Akhilesh Yadav appreciated the efforts of Akshaya Patra and wished the organisation success in all its endeavours.

Thanking Sri Akhilesh Yadav on the occasion, Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation said, "I am grateful to the Honourable Chief Minister, Sri Akhilesh Yadav for his unflinching support through the years. With his continued encouragement, we are confident that we can reach out to more children and serve them with nutritious mid-day meals every school day."

Madhu Pandit Dasa also took the opportunity to thank The Caterpillar Foundation for their generous contribution.

The state-of-the-art kitchen in Lucknow is spread across two acres of land which is allotted by the State Government. This is the second centralised kitchen setup by Akshaya Patra in the state.  The Caterpillar Foundation's investment will help build the capacity to produce 60,000 rotis, 10,000 litres of dal and 7 tonnes of cooked rice within two hours. The automated kitchen is equipped to achieve high standards of quality and hygiene in all processes.

The Lucknow kitchen will serve 11,800 school students in 109 schools. Akshaya Patra plans to expand the reach to about 1 lakh children from over 690 schools in the region by July 2015.

About Akshaya Patra Foundation:
The Akshaya Patra Foundation (www.akshayapatra.org), non-profit organization headquartered in Bengaluru, India, is the world's largest (NGO run) mid-day meal programme. Akshaya Patra effectively implements Mid-Day Meal Scheme with a vision that 'No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.' With a mission to reach 5 million children by 2020, the Foundation today serves mid-day meals to 1.4 million children from over 10,000 Government and Government Aided Schools

across 10 states in India. The programme achieves this scale by leveraging technology. Akshaya Patra kitchens are also known for their hygiene and quality standards with ten of their kitchens ISO 22000:2005 certified. Their innovations have become a product of various studies across the world.@ http://uttarpradesh.akshayapatra.org/news/akhilesh-yadav-...


About the Caterpillar Foundation
Caterpillar Inc. supports the philanthropic efforts of the Caterpillar Foundation. Founded in 1952, the Caterpillar Foundation has contributed more than $550 million to help make sustainable progress possible around the world by providing program support in the areas of environmental sustainability, access to education and basic human needs. To learn more about the global impact of the Caterpillar Foundation, please visit www.caterpillar.com/foundation.


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Mahesh Babu T R, Sr Manager, Media & PR, The Akshaya Patra Foundation / + 91 98443 79722
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Simran Bhalla / +91 9582099949 / simran.kalra@footprintglobal.com

Neeraj Shroya/ +91 9911856010 / neeraj.shorya@footprintglobal.com