New Delhi, June 4: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF), which serves mid-day meals to lakhs of students have come under the storm of eyes again for refusing to add onion and garlic to food. According to the APF website, the non-profit organisation serves lunch to more than 17.6 lakh school kids in 15,204 schools across 12 states in the country. Mid-day Meal Online Monitoring: Supreme Court Imposes Rs 2 Lakh Fine on Delhi, Panalises 6 Other States.
The recent report has divided public opinion about the non-government organisation (NGO) that whether the foundation's move of cooking the food without onion and garlic is correct or not. Last year, Scroll.in reported that APF had refused to follow the directions of Karnataka government directing them to add garlic and onion to the meal. Mid-day Meal NGO Fined Rs 54,879 for Violating Health Norms: SDMC.
In a recent article by The Hindu, the school kids are not happy with the food provided in the midday mead meal and they choose instead to go home and eat. People have been sharing their views on the issue, some are in defence of the meal while some claim that the food can be made more nutritious.
Here are some twitter reactions.
The negativity against @AkshayaPatra that is doing yeoman service to children across India is disgusting n appalling. As a regular donor I'm angry abt this! @AkshayaPatra pls ignore these nefarious naysayers n carry on with ur work---u hv millions of us behind u! @TVMohandasPai
— Vikram Sampath (@vikramsampath) June 4, 2019
Good folks at @AkshayaPatra, don't be disheartened by negativity that's been manufactured against the amazing work you guys do
Those attacking your work are known for their hatred towards anything that's Indian. So ignore them & continue with your mission. Millions are with you!
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) June 3, 2019
Akshaya Patra serving clean, hot food to school children. NGO doing a great job. Once visited their food storage and kitchen. Impressed with hygiene and cleanliness of the process right upto delivery of cooked food.
— Vedmalik (@Vedmalik1) June 3, 2019
Asking 👏🏻them 👏🏻to 👏🏻give👏🏻 nutrient👏🏻 food👏🏻 is👏🏻 not👏🏻hatred👏🏻.
They are doing good work but it isn't charity. GoK has signed an MoU with AkshayaPatra.
You don't impose your food habits on poor kids.
Days aren't far when meat-eaters are seen as demons. https://t.co/iKVsDTfkDJ
— Srujana Deva #StopHindiImposition (@SrujanaDeva) June 3, 2019
Akshaya Patra is a full food service platform that also owns distribution. This is why they are efficient, scalable and cost effective. That they can impose their own vision of vegetarianism on even govts who can't find better alternatives, tells you a lot about Platform dynamics https://t.co/sskXzhJKu0
— V. Anand | வெ. ஆனந்த் (@iam_anandv) June 2, 2019
why don't you allow the children to at least have a simple meal, @AkshayaPatra? why impose your food habits on others? eat and let others eat. simple. https://t.co/JdmyhPy9XG
— akoijam sunita (@akoi_Jam) June 1, 2019
Brinda Agide, an activist speaking to Mirror Now said that a number of kids are opting out of the scheme. "Are we trying to say that the children opting out aren’t citizens of India or are we trying to say that since the charity is doing a good job and a few students who drop out of the scheme should be overlooked. It is not a case of statistic vs objective,” she said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 04, 2019 04:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).