Akshaya Patra’s new kitchen in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Governor of Jharkhand, Shri CP Radhakrishnan on 19 January 2024. It has the capacity to prepare over 1 lakh nutritious mid-day meals every day. In the beginning, Akshaya Patra will serve 2,000 children through this kitchen and eventually cover over 1 lakh children in 565 schools in Hazaribagh and surrounding areas.

Shri Jayant Sinha, Hon’ble MP – Hazaribagh Lok Sabha constituency, Shri Manish Jaiswal, Hon’ble MLA – Hazaribagh Assembly constituency and Shri Amit Yadav, Hon’ble MLA – Barkatha Assembly constituency were present at the event along with Smt Nancy Sahay, IAS, Deputy Commissioner – Hazaribagh, Shri Arvind Kumar Singh, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Hazaribagh and other dignitaries.

The Hazaribagh kitchen—Akshaya Patra’s 69th unit in the country—marks a new chapter for the Foundation in Jharkhand as the implementing partner of the government’s flagship PM POSHAN Abhiyaan (formerly the Mid-Day Meal Scheme). It was made possible through the support of the Government of Jharkhand and the generosity of the Airport Authority of India, Coal India Limited and SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India).

Besides providing nutritious mid-day meals to school children in Hazaribagh and surrounding areas, Akshaya Patra will also be able to support the local economy through this kitchen by procuring vegetables locally.