Midday meal: Akshaya Patra gets Rs 18 crore boost from Infosys

HYDERABAD: Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, on Wednesday announced its partnership with Akshaya Patra Foundation for construction of a mega kitchen at Kandi village in the city outskirts. The aim of the kitchen's construction is to provide mid-day meals for students of government schools.
The initiative is part of the two key focus areas of the Infosys Foundation improved access to education and eradication of hunger and malnutrition.With the partnership, the foundation has become one of the biggest partners of Akshaya Patra, the world's largest non-profit organisation that provides midday meals to 1.7 million children in India every day.As part of its partnership, the Infosys Foundation offered a grant of `18 crore towards the construction of an advanced technology kitchen.The kitchen will provide mid-day meals to around one lakh children of government schools in the surrounding areas everyday. It will also cater to the needy Anganwadi children.
Sudha Murty, chairperson of the Infosys Founda tion, said, “The positive impact of the scheme motivates us to enter into new phases with Akshaya Patra and continue our work towards freeing society from classroom hunger and promoting universal access to education.“ The foundation laying ceremony of the kitchen was organised at Kandi in the presence of irrigation minister T Harish Rao.