In an effort to create a generation of healthy and resourceful citizens, The Akshaya Patra Foundation is leaving no stone unturned to multiply the impact of its Mid-Day Meal Programme. Right from working in a Public-Private Partnership model and harnessing technology, this NGO in India is taking various initiatives for an inclusive development of the children.

1. AN NGO IN INDIA IS STRIDING
TOWARDS NATION-BUILDING

2. The Akshaya Patra Foundation © 2018
Every day, Akshaya Patra provides school lunch to more than 1.6 million children across 34 locations in 12
states of India.
Witnessing the interest of Aditya’s interest in computer and solar energy, Akshaya Patra partnered with
ITI to provide a computer lab to the school so that children can receive practical knowledge along with
theory lessons.
Heeding to Manjula’s interest in theatre and acting, Akshaya Patra enrolled her for a month long
mentorship programme at the Bangalore School of Speech and Drama, following which she shone bright
at a stage performance.
Akshaya Patra has partaken in several disaster relief activities by providing food to affected people in crisis
situations like the devastating Nepal Earthquake and Chennai floods in 2015, the Gorakhpur flood in 2017,
and the like.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India that was initiated with the vision, ‘No child in India shall
be deprived of education because of hunger.’ Since its genesis in 2000, this NGO has been striving to
address the critical issue of classroom hunger and accessibility to school education through its Mid-Day
Meal Programme. Initially, the Foundation served school lunch to just 1,500 children in five government
schools in Bengaluru. Taking note of the crucial requirement of school meals, Akshaya Patra gradually
began expanding its operations to other parts of the country as well. The Public-Private Partnership, good
management, innovative technology, and transparent accounting policies have made the Akshaya Patra’s
Mid-Day Meal Programme the world’s largest NGO-run school lunch programme. Today, Akshaya Patra
operates 34 kitchens (32 centralised; 2 decentralised) across 12 states, feeding over 1.6 million children,
every day.
The role of NGOs in the mid-day meal sector is to provide freshly cooked, nutritious meals to school
children with the objective to:
 avoid classroom hunger
 increase school enrolment
 increase school attendance
 improve socialisation among castes
 address malnutrition, and
 empower women through employment
And, several studies done to assess the impact of Akshaya Patra’s meals suggest that the Foundation has
been making steady progress in achieving the above-mentioned objectives.
Over the 17 years of service, Akshaya Patra realised that for an overall development of children and
inclusive progress of the society, it has to fill certain gaps within its operational realm such as availability
of nutritious meals in Anganwadi, providing a platform for children to hone their talents that will help in
achieving their goals, and also being available for fellow citizens at the time of need such as natural
disasters. So, while performing its core activity of providing mid-day meal, Akshaya Patra also impacts the
society with its other feeding initiatives.

3. The Akshaya Patra Foundation © 2018
Witnessing the potential among its beneficiaries, this NGO in India endeavoured to go beyond just
providing school meals with its 'Give Every Dream A Chance’ initiative. As a start, Akshaya Patra identified
three beneficiaries Shivu, Manjula, and Shekar with the aim to become an astronaut, an actress, and a
chef, respectively, and provided them with a month’s mentorship under experts in the mentioned fields.
The impact of this initiative was:

4. The Akshaya Patra Foundation © 2018
Such initiatives are indeed of prime importance for the overall development of children, and Akshaya
Patra is taking steps to implement it within its realm of service.
The dedicated service of the Foundation has been recognised in various forums and here is a mention of
just a few of the laurels:
 Akshaya Patra has been ranked 23rd
among the top 100 NGOs featured in the 2013 edition of The
Global Journal.
 This top NGO has also been featured as one of the eight Indian game changers in the inaugural
edition of Innowin (India’s first magazine dedicated to innovation).
 Akshaya Patra became the first NGO to comply with the IFRS and also the winner of the Gold
Shield for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the ICAI for five consecutive years, inducting the
NGO in the ICAI Hall of Fame.
 In 2006, Akshaya Patra was considered as a case study at the prestigious Harvard Business School
as part of its MBA curriculum.
In an effort to multiply the impact of the Mid-Day Meal Programme, this NGO in India continuously
enhances its technologies and processes by implementing Kaizen, Continuous Improvement Projects
and Six Sigma methodologies in its kitchen operations. Alongside regular technological
interventions, the Foundation has also adopted green initiatives such as biogas plant, briquette
boiler, and solar power in some of its kitchens with the aim to reduce carbon footprint and
operational costs. Also, in an endeavour to improve the nutritional intake of the beneficiaries,
recently it launched a pilot in partnership with the Government of Karnataka to include millets in
the school lunch programme.
Undoubtedly, the role of NGOs is significant and important for the overall development and progress
of the society. And, organisations such as Akshaya Patra bring about a change in a sustainable manner,
right from the grass root level, so that each child grows up to be an asset for the country. Join in the
efforts of NGOs and be a part of nation-building.
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