The Bharat Aluminium Company ltd (Balco) has started supplying mid-day meals to 15,000 students of 40 schools in Surguja district.
The meals produced at the centralised kitchen set up by the company are being distributed by Non Government Organisation ‘Rewards’. Some of the journalists of Surguja district also visited the centralised kitchen located on Ambikapur-Raigarh road to witness the meal preparation activities, a company press release issued here stated.
Balco’s Assistant General Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Ashish Ranjan said the food is being supplied on the basis of the list provided by the district administration and on the basis of student attendance in the schools. The meals are being prepared on the quality parameters laid down by the administration.
He said the Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal has been encouraging such project that helps children to get good health and education.By launching schemes such as Mamata, Unnayan and the ‘Centralised Kitchen Scheme,’ Balco has been trying to ensure the children good health and education in its project area, he said. Ranjan said the centralised kitchen has received all encouragement and cooperation from the district administration. It has a capacity to prepare foods for 40,000 children.
‘Rewards’ is a New Delhi based NGO registered in 2004. It started providing supplementary nutrition to the malnourished children through Ehsaas scheme in 2005.Currently it has been providing mid-day meals to about 150,000 children in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The centralised kitchens of Vedanta at Ambikapur and Korwa are being managed by this organization.
Vedanta has invested Rs1.65 crore in the high-tech centralised kitchen set up in Surguja district. It is being managed under the supervision of the district administration under public private partnership scheme.Balco has been working for the overall development of the region and people in its project area by undertaking several programmes.
They include setting up health camps in different villages and providing villager’s health care and medicine for free, providing vocational trainings to local youths or building schools and community centres.