Maharashtra minister of Tourism and Environment Aaditya Thackeray on Monday inaugurated two initiatives of Akshaya Chaitanya - ‘Bal Shiksha Aahar’ and ‘Centralized Community Kitchen’.
According to a a press release of Akshaya Chaitanya, the non-governmental organization of the Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation aims to achieve the 2022 goal of zero hunger. They mentioned that a team in the organization has vowed that no one within a 10-mile radius of their centre in Byculla, sleeps hungry.
The initiative will be undertaken in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and DMER, Government of Maharashtra.
Their centralized kitchen is for patients and their family members, seeking treatment in government-run hospitals. Situated in Byculla, it is equipped to feed over 25,000 people on a day. This was inaugurated by Aaditya Thackeray, who also announced the organization’s ‘Bal Shiksha Aahar’ an initiative aimed at providing sumptuous breakfast to children from BMC run schools.
Thackeray announced the breakfast scheme for BMC schools in Mumbai.
Speaking on the occasion, Thackeray, said, "We are delighted to collaborate with Akshaya Chaitanya for such a noble cause of feeding the people from the marginalized society." He further spoke about the connection of a full stomach with the urge of seeking knowledge. "BMC already has the midday meal program. With the breakfast program being introduced in these schools, students will remain focused in seeking quality education. With many more schools to be opened up by the BMC in Mumbai, we in collaboration with Akshaya Chaitanya promise to provide nutritious food to the students. We strongly believe in upgrading the society with nutrition and quality education."
The occasion was also graced by the presence of other dignitaries like the Mayor of Mumbai, Kishori Pednekar, Shiv Sena MLA Yamini Jadhav and Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani.
The inauguration also witnessed Aaditya Thackeray along with the dignitaries from Akshaya Chaitanya feeding the underprivileged children at their Byculla based centralized kitchen.
“With an objective to eradicate hunger in a sustainable and scalable manner, we started the feeding services. Not only patients and family members of the hospitalized patients, we also feed the other vulnerable groups like the migrants, the slum dwellers and the underprivileged children," said Amitasana Dasa, Chairman, Akshaya Chaitanya.
“We are fortunate to have donors like TLC Legal, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, J.B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals and ETC Agro for their valued contribution to our community feeding program. Hunger is a disgrace to our society, and we will work towards eradicating it," said Vikas Parchhanda, CEO, Akshaya Chaitanya.
"TLC Legal aspires to have a hunger-free financial capital and has found very genuine organization in hare Krishna movement to partner for this cause. And this kitchen is just a start towards this endeavour" said Vipin Jain, Managing Partner, TLC Legal.
Talking on the occasion, Nikhil Chopra, CEO of J.B Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited, said, “We are committed to giving back to the community, not just by improving health of people, but also by ensuring holistic well-being of the marginalized section of the society. We strongly believe in coming up with solutions to cater to the growing needs of the community, i.e., eradicating hunger, which is a basic human right, in a sustainable way."
Supporting the cause, V.R.K Gupta, Director Finance & HR at Bharat Petroleum said, “In this specific project, we extend our support to the patients and their families with nutritious food at major Government Hospitals to ensure that right nutrition and savings for medication to restore and support health of the most vulnerable."
Present on this occasion, Mayor of Mumbai Kishoritai Pednekar said, “Let hunger die, not the hungry. Akshaya Chaitanya’s initiative of feeding the underprivileged is indeed commendable. The government also strives for the health and wellbeing of its citizens and when organizations like these come up with such novel concepts, we as policy makers also feel excited to offer all the necessary support to execute it."
After having successfully served in Hyderabad, thus being able to achieve ‘hunger-free’ Hyderabad, the organization has now geared up to make Mumbai ‘hunger-free’. “We, at Akshaya Chaitanya, are now committed to address the hunger situation in Mumbai among the marginalized families by providing nutritious food, free of cost," Parchhanda added.
