Akshaya Patra’s High-Tech Mega Kitchen in Telangana, Aided by Infosys Foundation

Hyderabad, India, December 09, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Infosys Foundation and The Akshaya Patra Foundation took the first step to build Telangana’s first High-Tech, state-of-the-art, Centralised Mega Kitchen in Khandi by laying its foundation stone on 7 December, 2016. Significantly, the Infosys Foundation has generously pledged to cover the entire construction costs of this advanced technology kitchen and has provided a grant of INR 18.03 Crore towards this objective. This High-Tech Mega Kitchen will provide mid-day meals to over 100,000 school children in Telangana region from the next academic year.

The Bhoomi Puja was attended by Sri T. Harish Rao, Honourable minister for Irrigation, Marketing & Legislative Affairs of Telangana, Smt Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation. The event was also graced by other eminent personalities that included Shri K. Prabhakar Reddy - Member of Parliament, Medak, Shri C. Prabhakar - MLA, Sangareddy, Smt Ranjeev Acharya, IAS - Principal Secretary - Education Department, Shri K. Manicka Raj, IAS - District Collector, Sangareddy; Shri Jagadeeshwar, IAS - Secretary of Government, Women, Children, Disabled & Senior Citizens Department, Smt Viziendira Boyi, IAS - Director, Women & Children Development Department, Smt Lanka Chandrakala - DEO, Sangareddy, Smt P. Umarani - Sarpanch, Sangareddy and Shri G Krishnan, IAS – Director School Education.

The Bhoomi puja or the foundation stone laying ceremony was organised at the new kitchen site by Akshaya Patra to mark an auspicious start to the undertaking. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa, President, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, Telangana & AP said, “We thank the Government of Telangana for giving us the opportunity to bring in this biggest social investment to Telangana. This will bring a meaningful change in the lives of school children. We are honoured to partner with the Infosys Foundation to build this Mega kitchen. We look forward to advance the vision of Bangaru Telangana by providing mid-day meals to all the Government school children across the districts in the state. I also thank all the dignitaries whose unwavering support has been pivotal to The Foundation’s success.”

Shri T. Harish Rao, Honourable Minister for Irrigation, Marketing & Legislative Affairs of Telangana, conveyed that these partnerships are a commitment towards making of Golden Telangana a reality. He extended his support for nurturing the school feeding programme of Akshaya Patra in the state. He said that the programme has provided children with educational and health benefits which are important measures to ensure the golden future of Telangana.

Smt Sudha Murty, Chairperson of The Infosys Foundation, expressed that, “We are extremely fortunate to be associated with Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal scheme which is, without any doubt, a pioneering move to eradicate hunger among school going children in India. The positive impact of the scheme motivates us to enter into new phases with Akshaya Patra and continue our work towards freeing the society from classroom hunger and promoting universal access to education.”

Addressing the occasion, Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, “I wholeheartedly thank Smt Sudha Murty and the Infosys Foundation for being a great pillar of unflinching support to end class room hunger in India. I also wish to express my gratitude to the Government of Telangana and the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India for their continued encouragement and support that will help the foundation progress towards its mission of feeding 5 million children everyday by 2020.”