Energy and education will fuel generations of children to reach their fullest potential and aspire to a brighter tomorrow.
At BW LPG India, we believe that energy can uplift communities. With this belief, we are delighted to support the Akshaya Patra Foundation with their energy needs as they cook nutritious meals for children. Hunger and malnutrition are some of the major causes of low enrolment, increased absenteeism, and early dropouts in schools for the estimated nine crore children from low-income backgrounds in India. Energy for cooking can change this.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that strives to address classroom hunger and malnutrition in India. By implementing the PM POSHAN Scheme (formerly known as 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 during school days. The program has been shown to improve students’ academic performance and concentration in class, facilitated better socialization and fostered a sense of equality amongst students.
In partnership with the Government of India and various state governments, and with the support of donors and well-wishers, Akshaya Patra has grown to manage one of the largest NGO-run mid-day meal programs in the world, serving wholesome food to over 2 million children from more than 22,000 schools, It has close to 70 kitchens across India.
The collaboration between BW LPG India and the Akshaya Patra Foundation began in late 2023, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for BW LPG India to support the Foundation as an Energy Partner for nine centralized kitchens in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The kitchens are located in Gambhiram, Gudivada, Kakinada, Kuppam, Mangalagiri, Nellore, Srikakulam, Vizag and Varanasi. Through this collaboration, BW LPG India supported the cooking of approximately 12 million mid-day meals for children from over 2,200 schools in the two States.
In April 2024, BW LPG India renewed its MOU for another Financial Year, and expanded its support for an additional three centralized kitchens to include Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, as well as Dehradun and Gadarpur in Uttarakand. Combined, we will be able to support the cooking of approximately 42.7 million midday meals for children from 2,700 schools. In addition, BW LPG India will explore the possibility to replace diesel-powered boilers with clean-burning LPG-powered equipment for selected kitchens.
Read More
– Read about the Akshaya Patra Foundation here.
– Read about LPG and its benefits at The World LPG Association.
– Read about our approach to Sustainability here.
Topics: human capital development, students, malnutrition, diversity and inclusion, community involvement, community contribution, local interactions, CSR, Sustainability, environmental protection, technology, clean-cooking