VIJAYAWADA: Charitable organisation Akshaya Patra, which has provided food for two billion people till now, is going to take a big leap to change the face of Indian education system by launching free education through a chain of schools inculcating traditional, cultural and spiritual values in the minds of tomorrow’s citizens. Akshaya Patra is going to lay foundation for a modern Gurukula in the name of Great Indian Talent School.
National chairman of Akshaya Patra Foundation and Hare Krishna movement Madhu Pandit Dasa said there is a need for such schools, where the skill and talent of a child will be recognised and encouraged, at a time when students are committing suicides due to high pressure and stress. “We have decided to launch such schools across the country by next year,” he said.
‘Education is not just marks’
The Akshaya Patra Foundation has decided to bring an education system that encourages skill and love towards the ancient culture of our country, but not the studies for marks. A campus that would offer free education for 25,000 students is getting ready and would be admitted through an exam. Many courses starting from LKG to PG and professional courses like medicine and engineering will be provided to students free of cost.
Madhu Pandit Dasa said the free education would be launched in every State with the government’s support, to provide education to every student. He added that along with the government’s idea of providing free education to everyone, the Foundation would provide nutritious food for all.
As per the request made by Akshaya Patra Foundation, the Andhra Pradesh government has allocated 200 acres of land for the construction of school at Penukonda in Anantapur district. Andhra Pradesh Akshaya Patra Foundation president Satya Gowra Chandra Dasa said the foundation laying ceremony for the school would be held in the next year.
Free food
The foundation is providing free food in 13,900 schools in 13 States, eight northeastern states and Jammu & Kashmir. More than two lakh students in both Andhra and Telangana are getting food. The foundation is also extending its service through `5 meal. They also have been donating shoes to 50,000 students in Telangana and 5,000 in Andhra Pradesh. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has also designed a project, ‘Mega Kitchens’ for preparing food for 50,000 people within an hour. The foundation had decided to build a Krishna tower on the banks of Yamuna river at a cost of `1,000 crore, depicting the life story of the Lord Krishna.