Cadila Pharma in association with Akshaya Patra Foundation distributed kits with essential food items to families of 3000 students to continue providing healthy meals to these students.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation and Cadila Pharma have been sponsoring the unlimited mid-day meals for 10,863 students studying in 38 Government primary schools of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar districts.
“Akshaya Patra and Cadila Pharma have had a long association. Thousands of communities were affected when the country went under lockdown. One of the affected communities were children of government schools who were deprived of nutritious mid-day meals. We appreciate the support extended throughout by Cadila Pharma,” said Raya Rama Dasa, Vice President, Akshaya Patra Foundation
These children belong to families with weak economic status and have limited access to educational and health resources. Since the lockdown, many families were affected, especially the kids as they could not go to schools and avail the mid-day meals. This caused a loss of not only education but also their health.
“We launched this initiative in July and want to reach all 10,863 students and make sure they can have healthy meals. This programme has been initiated in association with the collector office, education department and local panchayat of various villages along with Akshaya Patra Foundation. We have currently touched primary schools of Kaptanpura, Moti Bhoyan-1&2, Bhimasan village and many others in Gandhinagar and Bharuch and plan to reach more in the coming months” said B V Suresh, Head CSR, Cadila Pharma
The essential kits contain 11 grocery items.The parents of these students were called for collection of these kits in slots to avoid crowding and maintain social distancing. Along with the items, guidelines to protect oneself from COVID-19 printed in the local language were also distributed to raise awareness.