The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind confers National Award for Child Welfare 2017 on The Akshaya Patra Foundation

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind conferred The Akshaya Patra Foundation, with the National Child Award for Child Welfare 2017 recently at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The award was received by Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation. The awards were given in the presence of Minister of State for Women & Child Development, Dr Virendra Kumar.

On receiving the award, Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa said, “It is a matter of honour for The Akshaya Patra Foundation to be bestowed upon the National Award for Child Welfare by the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind. I sincerely thank everyone for the award and for recognising Akshaya Patra as an organisation that has undertaken initiatives to alleviate concerns of hunger among school children while responding effectively to their social needs for a better future.”

The National Child Awards for Child Welfare 2017 are given to celebrate the exceptional achievements of children; as well as to individuals and institutions who work for child welfare and for their outstanding contribution in the field of child development and welfare. The awards were instituted with a view to recognize such voluntary action. The award carries a cash prize of INR Three Lakh and a citation for each institution

About The Akshaya Patra Foundation

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Bengaluru, India. The organisation strives to fight issues like hunger and malnutrition in India. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government schools and Government aided schools, the Foundation aims not only to fight hunger but also to bring children to school. Since 2000, the organisation has worked towards reaching more children with wholesome food on every single school day. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is continuously leveraging technology to cater to millions of children. Its state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and they attract curious visitors from around the world.

In partnership with the Government of India, various State Governments and inestimable support from many philanthropic donors and well-wishers; Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings serving just 1,500 school children across 5 schools. Today, The Akshaya Patra Foundation is the world’s largest (not-for- profit run) Mid-Day Meal Programme serving wholesome food to over 1.66 million children from 13, 839 schools across 12 states in India.