History and work of Akshaya Patra

by Akshaya Patra NGO in India - Akshaya Patra

Akshaya Patra is a mid-day meal NGO that serves nutritious lunch to school children in Government schools and Government-aided schools. It has a rich history of serving children for the past 18 years. Already serving more than 1.76 million children, it aims to feed 5 million children by 2020.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the pioneer NGOs in the mid-day meal sector. It is one of the oldest implementor of the Government of India’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Established in 2000, it is registered as a not-for-profit organisation under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. Akshaya Patra is headquartered in Bengaluru and has a Pan India reach with operational bases in 40 locations of 12 states.

History of Akshaya Patra

The Akshaya Patra history is a story of compassion and inspiration. Years back, during a visit to Mayapur, a village near Calcutta, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was heart-broken to see a group of children fighting with stray dogs over scraps of food. This disturbing incident gave rise to the resolution that no child within a radius of ten miles from our centre should go hungry; resulting in the establishment of The Akshaya Patra in the year 2000.

Steering all its efforts towards achieving the vision of ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’, the Foundation has a commendable record of 18 years in service of children. Initially, Akshaya Patra provided food to 1,500 children in five Government schools in Bengaluru. Soon it realised the dire need of food and its crucial role in supporting education of socio-economically underprivileged children. Thus, it began to expand its operations to newer locations in a sustainable and strategic manner.

Work of Akshaya Patra

The work of Akshaya Patra has received both national and international recognition. It has been recognised as one of the best NGO in India for its service, quality, and financial transparency. The Foundation operates centralised kitchens to provide school meals to children in urban and semi-urban locations and decentralised kitchens to provide food to children in remote locations. It follows industry-specific standard operating procedures to carry out the kitchen processes. The NGO’s commitment to food quality, hygiene, and cleanliness have attracted the appreciation from all over the world; even making it a topic of study in Harvard University’s MBA curriculum. Akshaya Patra is a benchmarked NGO for maintaining financial transparency with its stakeholders. It is the first NGO to be inducted to ICAI Hall of Fame and a 6-time winner of the ICAI’s Gold Shield Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting.

Conformance to UN MDGs

Being an implementing partner of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Akshaya Patra’s cause is in conformance to two of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals:

• United Nations Millennium Development Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture; and

• United Nations Millennium Development Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all.

With a current base of 17,62,133 beneficiaries across 40 locations of 12 states, Akshaya Patra aims to reach out to 50-lakh children by 2020. But this is possible only when the entire society works in coordination with the efforts of the Government and the NGO. Come forward in support of this best NGO in India and transform lives of lakhs of children. Donate online for the cause and be a part of nation building. Your contribution for the much-needed meals of the children will pave way for a better and prosperous India.

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The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a mid-day meal NGO in India serving more than 1.76 million children across 12 states of India. With your support it can certainly nourish and nurture many more children thereby building a strong foundation for healthy, educated, and resourceful citizens.