Commonwealth Big Lunch at KISS: Over 30000 Tribal Students, Delegates from 53 Countries have mega Lunch in Odisha

KalingaTV News Network

Bhubaneswar: Over 30,000 tribal students of city based Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) and delegates from 53 Commonwealth countries including India took part in the ‘Commonwealth Big Lunch’ held at KISS premises here on Friday.

Apart from the students and staff members of KISS, High Commissioners, Deputy High Commissioners and representatives from the High Commissions of 53 Commonwealth countries and delegates from British Council witnessed the big lunch.

Rajya Sabha MP and founder of KIIT and KISS Dr Achyuta Samanta and many other dignitaries from the state and outside  were also present on the occasion.

Addressing the occasion, British High Commissioner to India Sir Dominic Asquith said, “The Commonwealth Big Lunch here at KISS is the largest lunch that I have ever experienced.”

“The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London next month will focus on Youths and their prosperity, “he added.

The main motto of this programme is to encourage people to get together to celebrate their Commonwealth connections through food. Shared meal envisages binding the diverse and vibrant network that connects over 2.4 billion people from over 53 countries.

The big lunch programme began at 12.15 PM. At least 10 types of food items including rice, dal, and chicken were served in the mega lunch. All the dishes were prepared at the KISS Mega Kitchen.

Dr Samanta was seen monitoring the entire programme.

KISS is the only organization from entire Asia which has been selected by the British Council to host the ‘Commonwealth Big Lunch’.  The mega event has been organised in collaboration with the British Council, to mark its 70 years of inception in Commonwealth countries.

Expressing his pleasure over the achievement of KISS, Dr Samanta said, “This rare achievement of KISS has brought pride and honour not only for KISS but also for the entire country”.

KISS Mega Kitchen, which has been providing more than 1 lakh meals per day for the last 25 years on an average, was conferred with the “Energy Globe Award ” last year for its environment friendly food making process.

The Commonwealth Big Lunch is an international initiative launched by the UK Prime Minister Theresa May. The initiative comes as the UK is set to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, bringing together up to 52 leaders from across the Commonwealth to London and Windsor from 16-20 April 2018.