Akshaya Patra and MUFG Collaborate to Commence Mid-Day Meal Feeding in Silvassa

The centralised kitchen will serve hot, safe and nutritious meals for 51,000 children in 338 schools

Mumbai, 7th August 2019: The Akshaya Patra Foundation has collaborated with the MUFJ Bank Ltd., the banking entity of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), to commence mid-day meal feeding in Silvassa, the capital of the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. This is the Foundation’s second kitchen to be constructed with the support of MUFG. It will serve hot, safe and nutritious meals for 51,000 children in 338 Government and Government-aided schools in the UT Administrations of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

The occasion was graced by senior representatives of MUFG including Mr. Junsuke “John” Koike - Regional Executive for India and Sri Lanka, and Ms. Renu Vijayanand - Managing Director & Head of Human Resources. Also present at the event were Shri Jaganmohan Krishna Dasa - President, Akshaya Patra (Gujarat).

After the inauguration, dignitaries were given a guided tour of the kitchen facility. They also served meals to children at the kitchen premises. All the dignitaries present at the event expressed their full support and encouragement to the initiative.

Mr. Koike said, “Just as India and Japan have been working together to strengthen the infrastructure of India, it is our privilege to play our part in developing the social infrastructure of the nation. Through our ongoing partnership with Akshaya Patra, we will continue to work towards nurturing the next generation and provide the necessary conditions for children to attend school, raise their chances of success, and contribute to the growth of the country in the long run.”

Shri Jaganmohan Krishna Dasa expressed his gratitude to MUFG for their support to the Foundation’s endeavour to address classroom hunger. He said, “We are immensely grateful to MUFG for partnering with us to build this kitchen in Silvassa, which will help us serve quality, hygienic, nutritious, and tasty meals to 51,000 children in the region every school day.” He further added, “We are grateful to the UT Administration of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and U.T. Administration of Daman & Diu for providing us this opportunity to serve the children as well as the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, for their continued support.”

On the occasion, Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman, Akshaya Patra said, “I would like to wholeheartedly thank MUFG for taking forward this collaboration by extending their support to a second kitchen. This partnership will play a crucial role in ensuring the sustainability that is integral to our endeavour and help us in reaching out to more children with tasty, hygienic, and nutritious meals every school day."

Like all the other Akshaya Patra kitchens, the Silvassa kitchen will follow world-class manufacturing practices and the highest standards of hygiene, food safety, and quality to ensure that a diverse and nutritious school lunch, tailored to match the local palate is delivered to children every day.

As the implementing partner of the Government of India’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Akshaya Patra has collaborated with 12 State Governments across the country for the programme. MUFG and Akshaya Patra first collaborated in August 2017 with the launch of the first high-tech kitchen in Narsingi, Telangana to provide mid-day meals to over 35,000 children in the state.

About MUFG

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world’s leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with around 3,000 locations in more than 50 markets. The Group has over 180,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing. The Group aims to “be the world’s most trusted financial group” through close collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world. MUFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges.

About MUFG Bank

MUFG Bank, Ltd. is Japan’s premier bank, with a global network spanning more than 50 markets. Outside of Japan, the bank offers an extensive scope of commercial and investment banking products and services to businesses, governments and individuals worldwide.

With a presence in India dating back to 1894, MUFG has since established itself as a leading global bank in the Indian corporate banking arena, having led most of the marquee financing deals in the country over the last five years. It has five branches in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai (including Sri Lanka’s representative office), Bengaluru and Neemrana, partnering large Indian, Japanese and multi-national corporates and financial institutions as they expand their businesses in India and across the world. The regional executive’s office is located in Mumbai and oversees all of the bank’s operations in India.

For more information, visit https://www.mufg.jp/english/

About The Akshaya Patra Foundation

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Bengaluru, India, which strives to address issues like hunger and malnutrition in the country. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government and Government-aided schools, Akshaya Patra aims to fight hunger and at the same time, bring children to school.  Since 2000, Akshaya Patra has worked towards reaching out to children with wholesome food on every single school day. The Foundation is continuously leveraging technology to cater to millions of children. Its state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and attract curious visitors from around the world.

In partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments, and the inestimable support of many philanthropic donors and well-wishers, Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings serving just 1,500 school children across five schools to becoming the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) mid-day meal programme, serving wholesome food to over 1.76 million children from 15,668 schools across 12 states in India.

For more details, please log on: https://www.akshayapatra.org/