MTR, Akshaya Patra to provide meals to 6,000 students

Around 6,000 students from 60 schools in Mangaluru and Surathkal will be provided nutritious midday meals under the ‘Namma Makkalu-Namma MTR’ programme for the current academic year, MTR Foods CEO Sanjay Sharma said.

He was speaking after inaugurating the third consecutive programme of ‘Namma Makkalu-Namma MTR’ at NITK on Thursday.

He said that the project is implemented by MTR Foods in collaboration with the Akshaya Patra Foundation. The MTR Foods has pledged to provide a million nutritious meals, as a part of the programme.

The project was initiated in 2015 and 2,000 children from 20 schools were benefited in the first year.

This year, the initiative has been extended to an additional 4,000 children in Mangaluru and Surathkal. MTR would be sponsoring nutritious meals for more than 6,000 children from 60 schools, he added.

MTR Foods CEO Sanjay Sharma said that the CSR programme ‘Namma Makkalu-Namma MTR’ is aimed at providing nutritious meals to children, ensure they stay in school and become contributing members of society.

Akshaya Patra Foundation Chief Marketing Officer Sundeep Talwar said that the foundation, in association with MTR, has been relentlessly working to touch upon the lives of five million children by 2020.

Zilla Panchayat President Meenakshi Shantigodu said that Akshaya Patra has been supplying as many as 15,000 meals per day, at various schools in Dakshina Kannada. Owing to the initiative, malnutrition has come down to a great extent. She meanwhile lauded the timely help extended by Akshaya Patra Foundation towards the flood victims of Kodagu and Kerala.

Akshaya Patra Foundation Mangaluru President Karunya Sagar said that the state government, especially the education department has been lending a huge support in the successful implementation of the programme.

Prizes were distributed to the winning students of Kishora Vaibhava competitions conducted by Akshaya Pathra and MTR. Cultural programmes were held.