CLP India Supports New Kitchen to Serve Midday Meals to 20,000 Children

Children’s faces light up when they hear the words “midday meals”, and they run to line up for the delicious food at the ring of the school bell. CLP India has been spreading smiles by providing midday meals to 5,000 children in Hubli in the southwestern state of Karnataka over the last two years.

“I was very weak when I was in my first grade but I am much healthier now. It’s all because of the midday meals,” says Bhagyashree Chitti, a seventh-grade student from Dharwad School in Hubli.

Renuka Kalagi, an eighth-grader from the same school, says: “I feel energetic. I can play well, and I also have more interest in my studies.”

CLP India entered into a partnership with The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) in 2017 to bring wholesome freshly-cooked lunches to 5,000 children in 27 schools in Hubli. The initiative is part of the Indian Government’s flagship midday meal programme which aims to serve 1.75 million children every day through 38 centralised kitchens in 12 states.

By providing the meals, the programme seeks to improve enrolment, raise nutrition levels, and encourage children to stay in Government schools. The scheme dovetails with CLP India’s approach to community initiatives, which count education and development of children in the rural communities near our operations as one of its focuses.

CLP India believes quality education is the first step in building a skilled and developed community. Through our education and development initiatives, we hope to help empower the next generation to drive and sustain their own personal and community development.

Rajeshwari Sutagatti, whose child benefits from the programme, says: “My daughter is happy with the delicious meals. She likes to go to school regularly and is able to concentrate well in her studies because of them.”

After the success of the Hubli project, CLP India set up a brand new centralised kitchen in July this year to provide daily meals to 20,000 children in Telangana in central India. The kitchen, equipped with modern cooking facilities, is situated close to CLP India’s Veltoor solar site and supports students in the surrounding villages who TAPF say are often hungry because of high poverty levels.“We are proud of our partnership with TAPF which meaningfully serves and empowers the communities surrounding our plants,” Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for CLP India Dr Priyesh Modi says.

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