Akshaya Patra Foundation
Encyclopedia
Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organization providing hot, nutritious freshly cooked classroom lunches for nearly 1.3 million underprivileged children in India. It is a Non-Governmental Organization in India
. It runs the world’s largest NGO midday meal program for underprivileged school children in India.
.
In June 2000, Akshaya Patra started feeding 1500 children in 5 schools in Bangalore. At that time there was no State run school meal program in Karnataka. Within just 10 years of its inception, Akshaya Patra today feeds nearly 1.3 million children in 8 states from 18 kitchens all over India.
A public-private partnership
project, Akshaya Patra is a secular program that claims to combine good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver school lunch at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world.
Akshaya Patra caters to the children according to their taste and so the menu is decided keeping the child's tastes and nutrition in mind.
Akshaya Patra kitchens in 18 locations are of two types: Centralized kitchens and Decentralized kitchens.
Mechanization also helps Akshaya Patra maintain very high standards of hygiene where there is very less human interference in the cooking process. Food is cooked in steam heated cauldrons and packed in stainless steel containers and transported to various schools in custom built vehicles.
The foundation has its largest kitchen located in Hubli-Dharwad, with a capacity to cook for 185,000 students in less than five hours. The organization sources its food stocks from local markets, thereby reducing costs associated with transportation and food spoilage, while supporting the local economy.
An M.Tech post graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, Madhu Pandit Dasa is the visionary who initiated the Akshaya Patra program in the year 2000, developing a technology-driven operating model.
Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-chairman
Chanchalapathi Dasa, is a post-graduate from the premier institution, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and provides strategic directions to the Akshaya Patra program.
Chitranga Chaitanya Dasa, Program Director
A food expert, CC Das brings with him special skills in fund-raising and was instrumental in setting up the overseas offices of the Foundation.
T.V.Mohandas Pai, Board member, Infosys Technologies
An ace chartered accountant by profession, Mohandas Pai has held key positions in Infosys since 1994. In addition to his current responsibilities, Pai is working with governments and decision-makers across India to improve the quality of education in the country.
Abhay Jain,Head - Group corporate affairs, Manipal Education and Medical Group
Abhay Jain is one of the largest distributors for polymers in South India. He is on the Board of Governors of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and the Maliviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur. He has also served as the vice president in the Birla Group of companies.
Ramdas Kamath,Vice-president (finance & admin), Infosys Technologies
Deeply committed to the socio-cultural development of India, Ramdas Kamath is involved in philanthropic activities and is particularly passionate about underprivileged children's welfare.
V.Balakrishnan,CFO, Infosys Technologies
Bringing with him several years of finance and accounts expertise, Balakrishnan also serves on the boards of Infosys Technologies Australia Pty Limited and Infosys Consulting, Inc, both wholly owned subsidiaries.
Raj Kondur,Chairman, Nirvana Business Solutions
An alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Raj Kondur has worked for several years in Morgan Stanley and AT Kearney in the US and is known for his expertise in fund management.
Akshaya Patra is audited by KPMG.
Harvard Business School
did a case study on Akshaya Patra in 2007 for its MBA curriculum on Akshaya Patra's model for precise time management.
US Congressional Hunger Centre (CHC) has awarded an International Fellow to Akshaya Patra out of 35 social organizations around the world.
World Economic Forum
invited Akshaya Patra to share its experiences for THE PROJECT HUNGER in Africa.
in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is called the ‘City of Widows’. This is where upper-caste Hindu widows, disowned by their families, come to live. They are considered a bad omen so are forced to shave their heads, wear white clothes and to sing hymns in temples to survive. Akshaya Patra has a lunch program for them.
→ CSO Partners Annual Reporting Award 2011 (runner-up)
→ Indian Express Innovation Award
→ ICAI Gold shield award for excellence in financial reporting
and was the winner of the 2008 CNBC-TV India Business Leader of the Year Award.
In 2011 the High Court of Karnataka found that Das falsified, tampered with, and fabricated documents relating to ownership of a temple in Bangalore which he was trying to claim.
An NGO has accused Akshaya Patra of financial fraud by stating that Akshaya Patra has sufficient government funding, however raises public donations, which are siphoned out to benefit Madhu Pandit Das. An ISKCON branch in Bangalore similarly has been engaged in legal action with him since 1998.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It runs the world’s largest NGO midday meal program for underprivileged school children in India.
History
The Foundation was started in 2000 feeding 1500 children in schools in Bangalore. Today it has grown into a huge organization. The current Chairman, Madhu Pandit Das is an IIT engineer turned social entrepreneur. The Sanskrit word Akshaya Patra means abundant, inexhaustible bowl of food), and it has its origin in the Hindu epic MahabharataMahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
.
In June 2000, Akshaya Patra started feeding 1500 children in 5 schools in Bangalore. At that time there was no State run school meal program in Karnataka. Within just 10 years of its inception, Akshaya Patra today feeds nearly 1.3 million children in 8 states from 18 kitchens all over India.
A public-private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
project, Akshaya Patra is a secular program that claims to combine good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver school lunch at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world.
Operations
With an average government subsidy of 50 percent, $23 can feed two children for a year. For many of the children in India, this is their only complete meal for the day. This gives them an incentive to come to school, stay in school and provides them with the necessary nutrients they need to develop their cognitive abilities to focus on learning.Akshaya Patra caters to the children according to their taste and so the menu is decided keeping the child's tastes and nutrition in mind.
Akshaya Patra kitchens in 18 locations are of two types: Centralized kitchens and Decentralized kitchens.
Centralized Kitchens
Centralized kitchens have the capcity to cook between 50 000 and 150 000 meals daily thus achieving economies of scale. Cooking takes place in mechanized, steam heated cauldrons custom built to reduce the cook to consume time.Mechanization also helps Akshaya Patra maintain very high standards of hygiene where there is very less human interference in the cooking process. Food is cooked in steam heated cauldrons and packed in stainless steel containers and transported to various schools in custom built vehicles.
The foundation has its largest kitchen located in Hubli-Dharwad, with a capacity to cook for 185,000 students in less than five hours. The organization sources its food stocks from local markets, thereby reducing costs associated with transportation and food spoilage, while supporting the local economy.
Decentralized Kitchens
A decentralized kitchen model is one where all the cooking activities of a school take place in an area close to the school itself.Decentralized kitchens are set up in remote areas of the country where difficult terrain makes setting up of large infrastructures infeasible. In such areas, Akshaya Patra representatives identify self-help groups (in many cases women’s groups), who will then carry out the cooking process. They are trained and educated to prepare the meals in a healthy, hygienic manner and provided with all the raw materials and infrastructure required for cooking.Kitchen Locations
Askhaya Patra provides mid-day meals to school children in 18 locations across India:- BangaloreBangaloreBengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
(Headquarters) - Hubli
- JaipurJaipurJaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
- VrindavanVrindavanVrindavan also known as Vraj is a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India...
- BaranBaranBaran may refer to* An Italian surname * A Persian word meaning 'rainfall'* A Persian given name* A Kurdish name meaning 'rain'* A Polish surname * A Polish word for 'ram'...
- NathdwaraNathdwaraNathdwara is a town in Rajasthan state of western India. It is located in the Aravalli hills, on the banks of the Banas River in Rajsamand District, 48 kilometers north-east of Udaipur. This town is famous for its temple of Krishna which houses the idol of Shrinathji, a 14th century, 7-year old...
- PuriPuriPuri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
- MangaloreMangaloreMangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
- GuwahatiGuwahatiGuwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...
- BellaryBellaryBellary is a historic city in Bellary District in Karnataka state, India.-Origins of the city's name:There are several legends about how Bellary got its name....
- Mysore
- AhmedabadAhmedabadAhmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
* Gandhinagar - Nayagarah
- Hyderabad
- VisakhapatnamVisakhapatnamVisakhapatnam is a major sea port on the south east coast of India. With a population of approximately 1.7 million, it is the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest city on the east coast of India after Kolkata and Chennai. According to the history, the city was...
- BhilaiBhilaiBhilai or Bhilai Nagar is a city in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh, in eastern central India. As of 2001, it had a population of 753,837. The city is located west of the capital Raipur, on the main Howrah–Mumbai rail line, and National Highway 6...
- VadodaraVadodaraVadodara formerly known as Baroda is the third most populated city in the Indian State of Gujarat . It is one of the four cities with the population of over 1 million...
- Vasanthpura
Governance
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a public, charitable, secular Trust, registered in Bangalore. The Board of Trustees comprise missionaries of ISKCON Bangalore, corporate professionals, and entrepreneurs.Board of Trustees
Madhu Pandit Dasa, ChairmanAn M.Tech post graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, Madhu Pandit Dasa is the visionary who initiated the Akshaya Patra program in the year 2000, developing a technology-driven operating model.
Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-chairman
Chanchalapathi Dasa, is a post-graduate from the premier institution, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and provides strategic directions to the Akshaya Patra program.
Chitranga Chaitanya Dasa, Program Director
A food expert, CC Das brings with him special skills in fund-raising and was instrumental in setting up the overseas offices of the Foundation.
T.V.Mohandas Pai, Board member, Infosys Technologies
An ace chartered accountant by profession, Mohandas Pai has held key positions in Infosys since 1994. In addition to his current responsibilities, Pai is working with governments and decision-makers across India to improve the quality of education in the country.
Abhay Jain,Head - Group corporate affairs, Manipal Education and Medical Group
Abhay Jain is one of the largest distributors for polymers in South India. He is on the Board of Governors of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and the Maliviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur. He has also served as the vice president in the Birla Group of companies.
Ramdas Kamath,Vice-president (finance & admin), Infosys Technologies
Deeply committed to the socio-cultural development of India, Ramdas Kamath is involved in philanthropic activities and is particularly passionate about underprivileged children's welfare.
V.Balakrishnan,CFO, Infosys Technologies
Bringing with him several years of finance and accounts expertise, Balakrishnan also serves on the boards of Infosys Technologies Australia Pty Limited and Infosys Consulting, Inc, both wholly owned subsidiaries.
Raj Kondur,Chairman, Nirvana Business Solutions
An alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Raj Kondur has worked for several years in Morgan Stanley and AT Kearney in the US and is known for his expertise in fund management.
Financials
We comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and, to a large extent, with the Indian Accounting Standards issued by the Institute of Chartered accountants of India. We also apply the latest principles of Fair value accounting and recognize all in kind donations.Akshaya Patra is audited by KPMG.
Impact
An AC Nielsen Impact Study of the program showed an improvement in school enrollment, dropout rates with a continuous increase in classroom performance. The foundation aims to serve 5 million children daily by 2020.Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
did a case study on Akshaya Patra in 2007 for its MBA curriculum on Akshaya Patra's model for precise time management.
US Congressional Hunger Centre (CHC) has awarded an International Fellow to Akshaya Patra out of 35 social organizations around the world.
World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
invited Akshaya Patra to share its experiences for THE PROJECT HUNGER in Africa.
A Much Needed Free Lunch for Indians Abandoned Hindu Widows
VrindavanVrindavan
Vrindavan also known as Vraj is a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India...
in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is called the ‘City of Widows’. This is where upper-caste Hindu widows, disowned by their families, come to live. They are considered a bad omen so are forced to shave their heads, wear white clothes and to sing hymns in temples to survive. Akshaya Patra has a lunch program for them.
Awards and Recognitions
The Akshaya Patra foundation has been recognized for its good work by organizations and personalities all over the world.→ CSO Partners Annual Reporting Award 2011 (runner-up)
→ Indian Express Innovation Award
→ ICAI Gold shield award for excellence in financial reporting
President Barack Obama's letter of Appreciation
In a letter, Akshaya Patra was heralded by President Barack Obama as “an imaginative approach that has the potential to serve as a model for other countries.Place in the LIMCA book of World Records
Akshaya Patra has been recognized by the Limca Book of RecordsLimca Book of Records
Limca Book of Records is a record book of Indian origin. First published in 1990, when the Limca Brand was owned by Parle Group. The book continued to be published by Coca-Cola, when they bought the Limca Brand. The 20th edition of this book was released by Amitabh Bachchan in March 2009...
and was the winner of the 2008 CNBC-TV India Business Leader of the Year Award.
Fraud and malpractice allegations
Director Madhu Pandit Das has been engaged in several controversies relating to fraud and falsifying documents.In 2011 the High Court of Karnataka found that Das falsified, tampered with, and fabricated documents relating to ownership of a temple in Bangalore which he was trying to claim.
An NGO has accused Akshaya Patra of financial fraud by stating that Akshaya Patra has sufficient government funding, however raises public donations, which are siphoned out to benefit Madhu Pandit Das. An ISKCON branch in Bangalore similarly has been engaged in legal action with him since 1998.
External links
- Official Website
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/outlook/news/story/2007/07/070718_das_india.shtml
- http://jivahimsa.com/2009/04/24/visit-to-akshaya-patra/
- http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/wr/article/0,28391,2042917,00.html
- http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnabangalore/newsview.aspx?eddate=1/10/2011&pageno=3&edition=9&prntid=22337&bxid=27956326&pgno=3
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/27/linda-norgrove-humanitarian-award
- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/Ludhiana-urgently-needs-metro-Sreedharan/articleshow/6916646.cms
- http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2011/0209/How-India-feeds-120-million-kids-a-day
- http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/life/article1715342.ece