Formed with the intent to fight hunger and malnutrition, today, Akshaya Patra is the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) Mid-Day Meal Programme serving wholesome food every school day to over 1.7 million children from 14,173 schools across 12 states in India.
Started in a temple in 2000 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, after he saw a group of children fighting with stray dogs over scraps of food, the organisation is world's largest NGO-run mid-day meal programme.
In 2001, the Supreme Court of India passed a mandate that "cooked mid-day meal is to be provided in government and government-aided primary schools in all the states." Given its legacy of feeding millions of children with wholesome school lunch, the Akshay Patra Foundation was also called upon to share its experiences with the court.
Built on a Public-Private Partnership model, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology, and smart engineering to deliver nutritious and hygienic school lunch on every school day.
Visited the Akshay Patra kitchen in Hubli. It’s amazing in terms of its size, scale & cleanliness! Akshay Patra cooks food & provides nutritious mid day meal for 17 lakh children daily through its 36 kitchens spread across India. It’s the biggest mid day meal pgm in the world. pic.twitter.com/rBT8xQB03g
— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) July 18, 2018
To put that in perspective: it's equivalent to providing free nutritious daily meals to the entire children's population of New Zealand & Croatia combined. Reflects the enormous good work Akshay Patra is doing https://t.co/NtWyhBnat5
— Minhaz Merchant (@MinhazMerchant) July 18, 2018
A #Throwback to when ‘His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet’ visited our Foundation in July 2013 and served food to our beneficiary children; and expressed his appreciation for the cause. pic.twitter.com/yU9CYUOBLN
— Akshaya Patra (@AkshayaPatra) June 28, 2018
Take the Give Feed Repeat Challenge.#GFRChallenge #Iwillgivefeedrepeat #thepowerof15 pic.twitter.com/1xJ6kvUyik
— Akshaya Patra (@AkshayaPatraUSA) May 12, 2018
In a bid to make the mythical never-ending vessel of food 'Akshaya Patra' a reality, Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, President & Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Sr Vice President of ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) Bengaluru founded the Akshaya Patra foundation.
"Food is the basic element of spirituality and the donation of food is the ultimate donation," says Madhu Pandit Dasa, an engineering graduate from IIT Bombay, who initiated the Akshaya Patra foundation after the idea sprouted in the mind of Sri Prabhupada the founder of ISKCON movement.
Sri Chanchalapathi a graduate of renowned Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru says the foundation serves nutritious meals to 16 lakh kids of all faiths in schools across Bengaluru daily at Rs 6 a meal and stresses that the smiles of the children give him the ultimate joy, hear these two spiritual gurus narrate the journey of Akshaya Patra.
Dasa says: "When we are providing mid-day meal on daily basis, we see there are many hidden talents in India. But, the children studying in government schools don't have the right environment to bring out their talent."
Speaking about the change in career, Chanchalapathi said: "My favourite subject throughout my life has been science. In science, deep questions are asked by scientists like recently Stephen Hawking asked very profound questions i.e. what is the purpose of this universe? Why do we exist?"
Adding to his fondness for science, Dasa said: "I was mostly in the field of science but somehow I got introduced to Indian philosophy. From there, I went on to read Bhagawat Gita and joined Iskon. By God's grace I am happy of what I am doing for children across India."
Being asked whether AP would be able to reach every child in India, Chanchalapathi Dasa said, "According to the Global Hunger Index report released by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), India ranks 100th among 119 developing countries. The country is home to the second highest population of under-nourished people in the world despite being the world's second largest food producer."
The mission of Akshaya Patra Foundation is to reach 5 million children every school day by 2020.
AKSHAYA PATRA FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES FELLOWSHIP FOR YOUNG LEADERS, SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS
The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO which helps in implementation of the central government's mid-day meal scheme in schools, announced an eight-month fellowship to encourage young leaders and future social entrepreneurs to participate in the organisation's initiatives.
"The objective of this programme is to train aspirants and successfully implement our initiatives in the areas of education, hygiene and sanitation, soft-skill training, health and nutrition. The organisation will award fellowships to 12 selected aspirants," said Shridhar Venkat, CEO of the Akshaya Patra Foundation.
The eight month-long programme will take place across locations where the organisation is implementing a mid-day meal programme. The last date to apply for the fellowship is July 31, 2018.
"The selected fellows will get an opportunity to hone their skills in various fields such as leadership, people-management, public-speaking, conflict resolution, relationship building, time management and problem solving," said Venkat.
