Goanet Digest, Vol 8, Issue 517, referred to the following link:
<http://zeenews.india.com/news/goa/don-t-rope-in-iskcon-for-mid-day-meals-go a-congress_866487.html> http://zeenews.india.com/news/goa/don-t-rope-in-iskcon-for-mid-day-meals-goa -congress_866487.html where the Congress Party in Goa says that ISKCON, through Akshay Patra Foundation, should NOT be given the contract to supply mid-day meal to schools in Goa. A Congress spokesman is reported as saying: "Our local self help groups should continue to be encouraged and not discarded in favour of ISKCON. Their output should be checked." The sentiments express regarding the local self-help groups is quite laudable. Perhaps all the political parties can offer their volunteers to help in this task, along with the other NGOs in Goa. I expect the Congress party to take a lead in this effort. I am sure that the people of Goa will be grateful to the party. Today (August 4) I was reading the Indian Express, where there is an informative story about Akshay Patra's kitchen in Jaipur, which is feeding 1.25 lakh school children in and around Jaipur. Given that the population of Goa is around 14 lakhs, I think the number of children to be fed in government schools would not be more than this number. So, Akshay Patra has the capacity to undertake the project. The story is available at: <http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-food-chain/1150776/0> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-food-chain/1150776/0 An interesting para in the story says: QUOTE Officials admit that the high standards of safety and quality come at a cost and arranging funds has always been tough. Says R Govinda Dasa, president, Akshay Patra Foundation, "The government provides 100 gm of raw material (wheat and rice) per primary student and 150 gm for upper primary students. In addition Rs 3.67 is given as cooking charge for primary students and Rs 5 for the older students. The amount covers only 50 per cent of the cost per student and the Foundation has to depend on donations from corporate houses and individual donors for funds." UNQUOTE It would seem to me that Akshay Patra is providing quite a high quality of food for the children, going beyond what the government has budgeted for. If the model of Akshay Patra for both, the food and the collection of donations from the society, can be replicated by others, it would seem that there is an excellent option available to the children of Goa. Prof Amartya Sen has rightly said that economic development can only go forward if the people are healthy and educated. The Akshay Patra model could well be the one that Prof Sen is looking for. If anyone is interested in knowing more about the model, they can see a study done on it, which is available at: <http://www.akshayapatra.org/sites/default/files/images/harvard_business_sch ool_study.pdf> http://www.akshayapatra.org/sites/default/files/images/harvard_business_scho ol_study.pdf U G Barad