Mumbai: Mumbai-based NGO Akshaya Chaitanya has launched a breakfast meal programme, ‘Bal Shiksha Ahara’, with the aim to serve breakfast every day before school to 12,000 underprivileged children in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Speaking about the initiative, Vikas Parchhanda, the CEO of the NGO, said, “Our main goal is to eradicate hunger from this country. Last year, we started operating in Mumbai, and within this short period, we have extended our footprints across the city.”
The NGO serves breakfast to 53 municipal schools, three slum areas, and six government and private hospitals each. The rotational breakfast menu includes ragi idli sambar, seviya, banana sheera, upma, masala bhaat, and poha.
“As an NGO in Mumbai, we endeavour to make food accessible to the needy across the city,” said Parchhanda. He believes this initiative needs to expand to all municipal schools around the country.
“Most of the people who we serve food belong to the lower economic strata,” he said.
According to the NGO, this breakfast initiative plays a significant role in social welfare. It is prepared in a fully automated community kitchen.
“We ensure there is no contamination in the food and it is sterilised,” said the CEO.
Parchhanda also clarified that the hygiene protocols and quality checks across the supply and distribution chain are up to the mark, “We have a team of volunteers who pick up the food from the kitchen and deliver it to several distribution points.”
