Currently, Akshaya Patra has 72 kitchens in India, feeding 2.1 million children every day in 24,000 schools over the last 24 years.
Our Bureau
Washington
The historic milestone achieved by the Akshaya Patra Foundation of serving four billion meals was celebrated at the United Nations headquarters. , with the commemoration highlighting India’s proactive measures to ensure food security and offering a template to other nations for impactful action.
The event, attended by Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi and chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation Madhu Pandit Dasa, commemorated the milestone four billionth meal served by the Indian NGO.
The Permanent Mission of India to the UN hosted a special event — ‘Achievements in Food Security: India’s Strides Towards Sustainable Development Goals’ — on Tuesday, showcasing the country’s innovative strategies, policies and achievements in food security and nutrition and their alignment with SDGs, particularly the target of zero hunger.
In a message sent especially for the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated with “immense pride and joy” the entire team of The Akshaya Patra Foundation on the “remarkable milestone” of serving four billion meals.
“This achievement stands as a testament to an unwavering commitment to eradicate hunger and provide nourishment to humanity. The significance of this milestone is further highlighted by serving the meal at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, showcasing a passion for global wellbeing,” Modi said in the message that was read out by India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj.
The Indian mission said in a concept note that with a population of over 1.4 billion, India’s efforts in ensuring food security have far-reaching implications and serve as a model for other nations striving to combat food insecurity.
In his keynote address, Satyarthi told the gathering that commemorating the milestone of four billion meals at the UN headquarters is “very significant” and sends a “very strong message” since this is the “place that represents the hopes and inspirations of 8 billion people”.
Murthy appealed to leaders of other countries at the UN to emulate the Akshaya Patra model and “bring joy, health, confidence, hope and success to poor children in their own countries”. Lauding the work done by the foundation, Murthy said that Akshaya Patra raises “our confidence that good things can indeed happen in India”. Murthy emphasised that India has been making good economic progress due to the success of the government’s economic policies, vision and hard work of Indian entrepreneurs and citizens as well as the foreign direct investment from multinationals.
Kamboj highlighted that India is taking “bold steps”, especially in eradicating poverty. “Our actions today are painting the canvas of tomorrow. It’s a journey of hope, a journey of change.”
Kamboj underscored that Akshaya Patra’s efforts “shine as a model of hope and a template for impactful action. This goes beyond feeding the hungry. It’s about educating the young and empowering women, driving both SDG 2 — zero hunger and SDG 4 — quality education by incentivizing children to attend school,” she said.
