Saving Lives and Spreading Smiles

Financial insufficiency and lack of opportunities push one towards economic, political and social deprivation. Consequently, they receive inadequate nutrition, run a higher risk of contracting diseases and lack access to basic healthcare facilities. 

If we don’t intervene, they may be stuck in this cycle for years together. 

So, what can save them? What are the essentials they need to survive? And how can we support them?

Food, Education, Shelter and Security

Food, education, shelter and security are the necessities for any individual to survive. If one can access these daily, it is enough to improve their lifestyle. But millions struggle without them and long for our support.

However, we may be caught up in our busy schedules, making it difficult to support the marginalised even though we have the heart to donate.

But here’s the good news!
We now have online platforms and NGOs that can help you save lives and spread smiles among the underprivileged people from where you are. 

How can you save lives through online platforms?

• Raise your voice and create awareness on social media platforms. It will connect supporters and NGOs who can help the affected people through new programmes. 

• Start fundraising campaigns with third-party websites and spread the word among your social network to contribute. Attach a description, if possible, to help them understand your motive behind the initiative.

• You can purchase products online from brands that donate a portion of their earnings to charity.

• The most convenient and commonly chosen method is to visit the websites of recognised NGOs and contribute to one of their programmes.

NGOs versus direct donations

When you donate to underprivileged individuals directly, you are helping them only for a day or two. But when you support NGOs, you let the experts invest your money to provide marginalised people with opportunities for long-term progress. Through the well-researched programmes, you not only help them survive but also enable them to learn, persevere and grow. Here’s how you can proceed.

• Visit NGO websites and choose a cause close to your heart.
• You can click on any programme and go through its description and impact.
• Once you select one, make your donation with a few clicks.
• Alternatively, you can also start fundraising campaigns with most of these NGOs.

One such recognised NGO in India is The Akshaya Patra Foundation. 

We started in 2000 by feeding 1,500 children in five Government schools of Bengaluru, Karnataka. Today, we serve unlimited and locally-palatable meals for the education of 20,10,516 (2 million) underprivileged children daily in 22,367 schools across 14 states and 2 union territories under the PM Poshan Abhiyaan (formerly known as the Mid-Day Meal Programme or MDM). 

Though we started with dedicated programmes for the welfare of children, we have also been able to help vulnerable families during the COVID-19 pandemic, disaster victims, nursing mothers, pregnant women and homeless mothers because of our donors across the world.

Benefits of feeding underprivileged children

• When you feed underprivileged children, you not only guarantee their bright futures with unlimited food and education but also assure economic stability for their families. Your contribution will allow all their succeeding generations to continue moving forward toward success and prosperity. 

• Your contribution towards the PM Poshan Abhiyaan (the new version of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme or MDM) will not only serve lunch to Government and Government-aided school children but also teach them to grow food through nutrition gardens. The new scheme provides supplementary nutrition for anaemic children where specialists frequently check the beneficiaries’ nutritional levels to prevent deficiencies and illnesses. Moreover, it also empowers women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) by sourcing locally grown nutrition-rich food items. Hence, you will be supporting a revolutionary step towards a self-sufficient India.

• Along with the joy of making an impact, you will receive monetary benefits. By supporting our NGO in India, you will avail a 50% tax exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act as we are registered u/s 12A of the IT Act.

Donate to an NGO

Obstacles in your way of helping people are a thing of the past. Online donations have made it a matter of a few minutes.

So, let’s not wait to make India a happy country. Let’s contribute to make basic resources such as food, education and security easily available to everyone. Donate for a cause of your choice today!

Celebrate this New Year with Akshaya Patra

New Year will be here soon!

We all are in a bind about how to celebrate it. What shall our goals be for the coming year? How can we make it better?

You may be aiming for a new job, upskilling yourself for a new role or striving to get good grades. You may also be seeking to build new or strengthen existing relationships.

But how about adding a new goal that satisfies your sense of purpose in life – to be a better human being by helping the underprivileged? 

And here’s the best part – you can do it right from where you are with a few clicks online!

If you like the idea, then join us. Let us have it as our collective resolution for 2023.

Join the Akshaya Patra family this New Year

We at The Akshaya Patra Foundation have been providing unlimited food for education of underprivileged children for 22 years. We ensure that our meals meet the palatal preferences of children as well as align with the nutrition guidelines from the Indian Government.

Our 65 kitchens across 14 states and 2 union territories cater to underprivileged communities and disaster victims during emergencies. 61 of these kitchens are automated centralised facilities that cook between 3,000 to 0.2 million meals per cooking cycle, utilising gravity flow mechanisms to minimise human touch for enhanced safety and quality.

Our journey

In 2000, our Foundation started serving meals to 1,500 children in five Government Schools in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Today, our passion for ZERO CLASSROOM HUNGER goal has allowed us to feed 2 million Government school children across India every day.We have also been recognised for our work nationally and internationally.

In 2015, we airlifted 1,00,000 meals to earthquake-hit Nepal in April. We also established an Earthquake Relief Centralised Kitchen in June 2015 to support the affected people of the region. It was an initiative undertaken in collaboration with Jamsetji Tata Trust and Sipradian Sahayata Sanstha. This kitchen served 1.4 million meals to the affected people for 88 days. 

We conducted similar relief programmes in the subsequent years during floods and cyclones in Chennai, Gujarat, Gorakhpur, North Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha. Through these activities, we benefitted more than 2 million beneficiaries across India.

Our work was appreciated in 2017 when we received a National Award for Child Welfare, Gujarat Flood Relief and Gorakhpur Flood Relief. In 2019, we won the Gandhi Peace Prize, BBC World Service Global Food Champion Award, Outlook Poshan Jury Award and Mahatma Award for Social Good. 

During our two-year-long COVID relief programme, we distributed over a million meals and kits to the affected people. In 2021, we were honoured with the Mahatma Award 2021 in the ‘COVID-19 Humanitarian Effort’ category. In 2022, we received the Prestigious Mahatma Award for Social Good and Impact ‘Zero Hunger’.

Other flagship programmes

As our work supporting the Indian Government’s Midday Meal Programme (now called the PM Poshan Abhiyaan) began to be recognised by people and the various Governments globally, we started more initiatives to help the marginalised. Below are some of them:

Anganwadi Feeding Programme

Anganwadi Feeding is an initiative by the Government of India to nourish pregnant women and nursing mothers for the healthy growth of their infants. The initial months after a child is born are crucial for the development of their vital organs. Hence, this programme was started to provide care to new mothers and their babies. We help in its execution across India and have served 1,61,53,556 meals so far.

Feed the Homeless Mothers Programme

Most widowed women in Indian society are abandoned by their families with necessities that last them only for a few days. To save these resources for the future, they skip food frequently. We started feeding the homeless mothers to give them a life of dignity and respect. Your support will give them nourishing meals twice a day so that they can concentrate on making a living rather than pondering over how to survive without food.

Breakfast Feeding Programme

A review of a study by experts showed that at least 199 of 5,158 children get only one meal a day. Midday meal (MDM) is the first meal for around 2.1 lakh children — not breakfast. Thus, we launched the Breakfast Feeding Programme starting with the Government Schools of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka.

Digital Education Programme

The COVID-19 pandemic magnified the digital divide, where the underprivileged were forced to discontinue learning due to lack of digital devices. Our digital education initiative in Government schools aims to enhance the quality of education while generating excellent learning outcomes and building a pleasurable schooling experience. It focusses on inclusiveness while contributing to the Central Government’s vision for ‘Digital India’.

Millets in mid-day meals for Government School Children

To enhance the quality of nutrition in school meals and support sustainable food growing practices, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nutrihub, the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) to introduce millets in the mid-day meal menu for children. It was piloted in schools in Bengaluru and Hyderabad and will slowly be executed in other locations as well.

Donate Online this New Year

Choose any of our programmes to empower the underprivileged this New Year. Make your celebrations more memorable by donating towards their welfare and start the year on a positive note. 

With one contribution online, you will transform lives for the entire year of 2023! 
Donate for a year filled with goodness!

Akshaya Patra: NGO that bringing food and happiness to underprivileged children

One in three undernourished children in the world lives in India.   

And millions of children in our country go to school hungry or do not attend school at all. 

Reason?

• Lack of enough resources at home that pushes them to work or get married
• Undernourishment that results in 
  • lack of energy 
  • inability to concentrate on scholastic and non-scholastic activities
  • reduced cognitive development

Malnourishment is not necessarily an outcome of a lack of food. Even those who eat three meals a day can be malnourished if they do not receive essential macro and micronutrients. Thus, children need well-researched programmes like the Mid-Day Meal Scheme or MDM (now known as the PM Poshan Abhiyaan).

Under the PM Poshan Abhiyaan, every school meal must contain essential nutrients in adequate quantities mandated by the Ministry of Education and the Government of India.

Malnourishment and Akshaya Patra

Our country is a fast-growing economy that relies on innovation and skilled human resource for development. But if our talented children do not receive food and education, they will not grow into competent individuals, thus slowing down the pace of growth of our country.  

So, for a bright future with better opportunities for all our upcoming generations, we must strike malnourishment now!

And so, we did!

We, The Akshaya Patra Foundation are an NGO feeding school meals under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme or MDM (now known as the PM Poshan Abhiyaan) for 22 years. Nourishment for the education of underprivileged children has always been our prime focus. 

We have come from feeding 1,500 children in five Government schools in Karnataka to 20,10,516 (2 million) children daily across 14 states and 2 union territories, with strong support from various Governments, consistent efforts and donations from our compassionate donors. We aim that no child in India should be deprived of education because of hunger and our mission is to nourish 3 million children daily by 2025.

Over the years, our NGO’s presence across the country has grown strong. Our mid-day meals (MDM) in schools are being loved at all our 65 locations as they are hygienic, locally palatable and adhere to the nutrition guidelines stated by the Ministry of Education. 

In 2022, we also received the prestigious Mahatma Award for Social Good and Impact “Zero Hunger” and it would not have been possible without our donor family.

This year, our NGO also started serving breakfast along with mid-day meals and will be introducing millets to the menu in all our beneficiary schools very soon.

Now, it is your chance to give back to India by feeding its precious children. Here’s how your donations to our NGO make an impact.

Kavya enjoys dancing, singing and writing in her free time and English is her favourite subject. She also likes Science and General Knowledge. Her favourite mid-day meal (MDM) dishes are dal, rice and sukhadi.

He is a Class 12 student in the Science stream and his favourite subject is Chemistry. “Chemistry is my favourite subject because I get to use magic to create things every day. One day, I will make something that can help change the world, and that’s why I want to become an engineer,” he says. 

Vijayakumar likes to watch cricket in his free time. He also learns typing, which he believes will help him in the long run and enhance his focus. He expresses gratitude for the mid-day meals (MDM) served at school and mentions pulav as his favourite dish.

Support Akshaya Patra, the NGO for children

These young talents await your support to grow into skilled and responsible citizens of India and leaders of tomorrow. Join our donor family and experience the unending bliss of contributing to our country’s future.

Donate online to support Akshaya Patra today!

Transforming India through Digital Education

Every year on November 11, National Education Day is observed to honour Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, India’s first Minister of Education. He was a brilliant leader and thinker who made enormous contributions in the field of education.

We honour his achievements on this day and reaffirm our dedication to offering high-quality education to every child apart from feeding them. We also honour the numerous accomplishments of our students and teachers as well as the advancements made in India’s educational system. The significance of education as a human right and a driver of social change is also recognised on this day.

Apart from feeding children through the PM Poshan Abhiyaan (previously known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme), Akshaya Patra has been a pioneer in promoting education among the underprivileged sections of the community. From creating opportunities for children to pursue quality education, the Foundation has continuously strived to eliminate classroom hunger and to provide the latest educational tools and techniques to children who have restricted access to opportunities.

Keeping up with the theme of National Education Day and in the quest to provide holistic development to children and support them to pursue their dreams, Akshaya Patra started its Digital Education Programme under the organisation’s Beyond The Meals initiative.

The initiative will provide students with access to digital devices and world-class digital learning platform with professionally curated content and equip teachers with tech-enabled teaching tools, to make teaching an interesting experience. It will also help aspiring medical and engineering students in their preparation for competitive exams such as NEET and JEE.

Let’s have a look at how the Digital Education Programme has impacted the lives of a few beneficiaries of The Akshaya Patra Foundation.

To contribute towards a child’s happier and brighter tomorrow, donate online!

Akshaya Patra steers closer to its vision; hits a new milestone

Akshaya Patra now delivers 2 MILLION smiles DAILY!

The esteemed 21-year-old NGO in India achieved its new feeding landmark in September, nourishing 2 million children daily! It includes children receiving food under the Midday Meal Scheme (MDM) and the Anganwadi Feeding Programme that nourishes nursing mothers along with their infants.

In the past, Akshaya Patra has been instrumental in bringing policy reforms around the Midday Meal Scheme (MDM)(now the PM Poshan Abhiyaan) and improving the nutritional value for its beneficiaries. Studies suggest that regular mid-day meal consumption reduced the chances of children being underweight and obese. It enhanced their chances of being in the average weight and overweight category along with being from short to normal in height. They also became healthier and less susceptible to anaemia, fever, diarrhoea and cough.

But with the pandemic making matters worse for underprivileged families in India, there was an immediate need to uplift them socioeconomically and bring their children back to school. Therefore, the organisation launched new initiatives in the year 2022 to reach, nourish and support more marginalised people across the country.

Akshaya Patra’s reach with new initiatives

1) Inauguration of 4 new kitchens

Akshaya Patra inaugurated four new kitchens in the first few months of 2022:

• 62^nd kitchen in Varanasi, Gujarat: feeds over 100,000 children in 282 schools
• 63^rd kitchen in Dehradun, Uttarakhand: feeds over 11,900 children in 132 schools
• 64^th kitchen in Mansa, Gujarat: feeds over 26,000 children in 190 schools
• 65^th kitchen in Jorhat, Assam: feeds over 10,070 children in 156 schools

Contributions from generous donors like The Hans Foundation and the IndusInd Bank made these kitchen constructions possible. Many delegates, including Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India and Shri Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, attended the inaugurations and pledged their support for the NGO’s endeavours.

2) Breakfast Feeding Programme

A review of studies around providing free school breakfast proved that it ensures adequate nutrition and energy in children to attend daily classes with improved concentration and interest. They come to school regularly, cultivate good behaviour and show improved academic performance. It also reduces expenditure in lower-income households, giving them the incentive to send their children to schools. Also, students who skip breakfast show increased errors and have slower memory recall. 

Therefore, a well-designed, hygienic and nutritious diet would help children—and the Indian population in the long run—to recover from widespread undernourishment. Keeping this in mind, Akshaya Patra started serving breakfast in addition to mid-day meals in Government schools.

3) Millets in mid-day meals of Government school children

To improve nutrition for children as part of the PM Poshan Abhiyaan, Akshaya Patra signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nutrihub, the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) in August. It aims to introduce millets in the meals for Government school children in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and eventually, across the country.

Millets are proven to have five times higher nutritional content when compared with rice and wheat. They will digest well, strengthen the nervous system, reduce cholesterol, prevent heart disease, protect against diabetes, lower cancer risks, increase energy levels and nourish the muscular system in millions of underprivileged children in India, thus boosting their physical and mental health.

These small-grained cereal crops are also rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fibre, medicinal properties, iron, zinc, calcium, niacin, B6, folic acid, potassium, phosphorous and magnesium, which are essential to curb the problem of malnutrition in India.

Furthermore, millets are native to India. They can be grown in low fertile soils with low inputs of fertilisers and pesticides, adding to the nation’s sustainable food-growing practices.

4) Sustainable food production methods

The programmes run by Akshaya Patra directly impact the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7, which are also the priority of the Indian Government.

Its kitchens are known worldwide for following advanced manufacturing practices and international standards of hygiene and quality, thus ensuring that the most nutritious meals reach the beneficiaries.

Now, with the new state-of-the-art kitchens, the NGO in India proves its constant efforts to integrate sustainability into its food production processes. They use solar panels for electricity generation with a heat pump and solar water heater to boil water.

Towards a sustainable future of India

The new model of the PM Poshan Abhiyaan will also allow the children to grow their own food and kitchens will source raw materials locally, thus making the mid-day meal ecosystem more self-reliant, organic and sustainable. With regular checks on each child’s nutrition levels by experts, children will recover from learning and nutrient loss more quickly. But all this is possible only with consistent support from donors!

When ₹2500 can support a child with breakfast, lunch and education for an academic year, why can each one of us not donate the minimum we can?

So, let’s end the wait and endless discussion on problems. Let’s bring health, education and opportunities to millions of underprivileged children with a few clicks online!

Our online donations can shape India’s future. Let’s contribute.

Akshaya Patra amongst top mid-day meal NGOs in India

The Akshaya Patra Foundation had begun serving meals in 2000. Before the Supreme Court mandate, the Foundation was called to provide testimony on large scale feeding because it was already running a cooked school meal programme for 1,500 children across five government schools in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Akshaya Patra is one of the pioneer mid-day meal NGOs in India.

Akshaya Patra’s road to success:

•  Harvard Business School, made a case-study on Akshaya Patra and included it in its curriculum.
• In 2010, it made way into India Book of Records for running the world’s largest school meal programme.
• The Foundation hosted renowned personalities like Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India; His Holiness, The 14^th Dalai Lama; Mr Bill Clinton, Former President of USA and many more.
• The efforts and operational transparency maintained by the NGO received multiple national and international recognitions and awards.
• 3 billion cumulative meals were served in the presence of Shri Narendra Modi, Honourable Prime Minister of India in 2019.

Akshaya Patra’s kitchen burners whirr every day without a break

In a span of 19 years of its service towards providing school meals, Akshaya Patra has fed 1.8 million children studying in Government and Government-aided schools of India daily without missing even a single day in between. The 52 different kitchens of the Foundation located in 12 States and 2 Union Territories strive day-in and day-out to provide fresh and nutritious meals to children who wait for it on each school day.

Strategies used in Akshaya Patra

In order to reach a larger section of children studying in Government and Government-aided school, Akshaya Patra operates both centralised and decentralised kitchens. Out of which centralised kitchens are located in 50 cities where building large infrastructures is possible to serve children within 50km radius. These kitchens have a capacity to serve up to 1 lakh meals. Decentralised kitchens are located in remote locations namely Nayagarh in Odisha and Baran in Rajasthan. These kitchens are monitored by Akshaya Patra staff where women from Self-Help Groups (SHG) are employed to carry out the process of cleaning, cutting vegetable and cooking. The Akshaya Patra kitchens implement ISO 22000:2005 to ensure adherence to utmost safety and hygienic practices so that children receive the best quality meals.

The Akshaya Patra kitchens follow various technologies and methodologies to ensure cleanliness and hygienically prepared school meals:

Food Safety Management Systems

To equip preparation of mid-day meals on a large scale, mandatory routines are followed by each member in every kitchen of Akshaya Patra. Both centralised and decentralised kitchens implement Food Safety Management Systems to handle, prepare and deliver food.

Supplier Quality Management System

To ensure that the best raw materials are acquired right in the initial stages of procurement, Supplier Quality Management Systems are implemented in Akshaya Patra. This includes processes like Supplier selection, Supplier modification, Supplier rating, etc.

On implementing KAIZEN technologies, Total Production Management and 5S methodologies, Akshaya Patra has always ensured that best quality meals are delivered hygienically and safely so that children can eat hot and fresh meals and look forward to more such meals reaching them the next day.

From the time meal preparation starts, till the time hot, cooked meals reach children, you play an important role. Online donations made towards Akshaya Patra help in:

• Increasing school attendance rates
• Improving overall nutritional status of children
• Increasing school retention rates
• Ensuring that children complete their education without any breaks

It is a matter of pride on knowing that children complete their education because you were the reason behind bringing them to school every day. Gain immense pleasure and be the reason for changing lives of millions of children.

Support Akshaya Patra. Donate now.

How Akshaya Patra Foundation Feeds Over 1.8 Million Children Every Day?

1.8 million+ children!

Is it really possible to feed so many children in 1 single day?

Indeed, it is a humongous task but if the entire community works in unison with a children charity or an NGO, it is achievable.

One such NGO is The Akshaya Patra Foundation which is registered as a not-for-profit organisation under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. It implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme across 12 States and 2 Union Territories of India.

Akshaya Patra was started in the year 2000 by feeding 1,500 children in Bengaluru, Karnataka. As of today, it feeds 18,02,517 children studying in 16,856 Government and Government-aided schools located in 51 locations across India. It works with a vision that ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.’ The Foundation aims to feed 5 million children by 2025.

But how does Akshaya Patra aim to accomplish those numbers?

Akshaya Patra provides freshly cooked, nutritious mid-day meals to children in order to help them in their overall development. The Foundation operates from 52 kitchens out of which, 50 kitchens are Centralized kitchens and 2 are Decentralized kitchens.

Centralized kitchen

Centralized kitchens are present in 50 locations of India and have a capacity to feed 25,000 to 1,00,000 meals a day. These kitchens are located in urban and semi-urban areas.

Decentralized Kitchen

A decentralized kitchen is set up in locations that are remote and not easily accessible. Such kitchens do not have a great connectivity which makes it difficult to set up a large infrastructure. It is operated by women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and monitored by Akshaya Patra supervisors.

Mid-day meals have several benefits

It might sound like a small school lunch for many of us, but it makes a huge difference in the lives of children who come from challenging backgrounds where having a square meal once a day is an achievement. This is why parents of such children rely on school mid-day meals. Mid-day meals benefit children in different ways:

Put the below points in smart art form.

• It improves nutritional levels in children who consume mid-day meals. Mid-day meals are packed with nutritional content.
• It increases the rate of school enrolment since a school lunch can act as a catalyst in bringing back children to school every day
• It increases their attention span and helps them focus better in their classrooms
• It ensures proper cognitive and physical development of children studying in schools
• It helps in reducing the school drop-out rates

You can help children by sponsoring their school lunches at ₹1100 and help them enjoy locally palatable meals for an entire academic year. You can contribute directly to help school children or by taking part in various volunteering opportunities available with Akshaya Patra.

Show your support to feed 1.8 million children!

Sponsor their meals & save tax too!

Akshaya Patra provides midday meal to 1.8 million+ children across India

Midday meal is a provision made by the Government of India to provide cooked meals to school children studying in Government schools and Government-aided schools. This initiative is the largest school meal programme in the world.

To maximise the benefits of this programme, Government has partnered with NGOs to mobilise community support and reach children even at the grassroot level. One of the pioneer NGOs that stepped in as an implementing partner for the Mid-Day Meal Scheme is The Akshaya Patra Foundation. A non-profit organization (NPO) in India, Akshaya Patra has been providing freshly cooked, nutritious, and locally palatable meals to children for the past 19 years. Akshaya Patra is headquartered in Bengaluru with a PAN India reach.

Akshaya Patra was established in 2000 with the vision,
‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’.

During the initial days, this children NGO provided meals to 1,500 children in five Government schools in Bengaluru. Witnessing the critical need of this meal in supporting schooling of children, Akshaya Patra gradually expanded its programme to other locations. In the meantime, the Supreme Court of India also read out a landmark mandate on 28 November 2001 stating, “We direct the State Governments/Union Territories to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary School with a prepared mid-day meal.” This mandate was a welcome progression for Akshaya Patra and this non-profit organization (NPO) in India partnered with the Government to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

Today, Akshaya Patra takes care of daily school meals of
1.8 million+ children across India.

By operating in a public-private partnership model, which has also been recognised as one of the best replicable models, this children NGO expanded its operations from one location to 51 locations. Currently, it has its own kitchens and delivery logistics across 12 states and 2 Union Territories to prepare and deliver midday meals to schools. All its kitchens follow industry standard operating processes with utmost adherence to cleanliness and hygiene practices.

Midday meal is a great incentive for families belonging to challenging socio-economic backgrounds to send their children to school.

Over the years, it has been observed that the school meals open the gates of school for children who would have to otherwise work to earn a square meal. The midday meals have:

• increased school enrolment
• regularised attendance
• decreased drop-out rate
• improved health of children
• boosted academic performance
• supported continuity of schooling

Support this non-profit organization (NPO) in India to reach more children with nutritious school meals. Your support will uphold health, education, and dreams of millions of children across India.

Akshaya Patra’s journey of nourishing children

Didn’t we all wait for the lunch bell to ring during schooldays?
Didn’t we all wait share our lunch with friends?
We did!

Schooldays – a treasure trove of memories, days of new lessons, secrets with friends, and so much more with nibbling lunch at the last bench while the class is on being one of the fondest of memories! Truly, nothing can replace the days we spent at school! Such is the story of millions of children today as they get a chance to attend school. Yes, there is a significant number of children who are able to receive schooling only because of the provision of free lunch at school, the Mid-Day Meal Programme.

What’s free lunch?

On 28 November 2001, the Supreme Court of India passed a mandate stating,

“We direct the State Governments/Union Territories to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary School with a prepared mid-day meal.“

This was a significant intervention in promoting education and supporting education-related schemes and programmes.

In order to amplify the impact of the Mid-Day Meal Programme, several NGOs joined hands with the Government to implement it across India. Thus, this programme is now implemented by both Government and NGOs. For those families belonging to socio-economically challenging backgrounds, the provision of this free meal acts as an incentive to choose school over work for their children. has potentially resulted in:

1. Increase in enrolment
2. Improved attendance and regularity
3. Countering classroom hunger
4. Improved health
5. Enhanced concentration during class hours
6. Increased participation in school activities
7. Reduced drop-out rate

Akshaya Patra’s journey in Mid-Day Meal Programme

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a mid-day meal NGO implementing the Mid-Day Meal Programme since 2000. Initially, it began feeding 1,500 children in five Government schools in Bengaluru. Witnessing the need of mid-day meals, the NGO inferred that there is a bigger need for these meals. Hence, it gradually expanded its operations and presently, this NGO provides freshly cooked wholesome lunch to 17,65,597 children studying in 15,668 Government & Government-aided schools. These schools are situated in 45 locations across Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh.

Feed a child with Akshaya Patra

Mid-day meal NGOs like Akshaya Patra not only fills hungry stomachs but also nurtures ambitions of young children. So, when you support to feed a child or two through these NGOs, it results in promoting education as well as preparing them to be resourceful citizens in the near future. Join in the journey of Akshaya Patra and help it reach its vision of ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’.

Step ahead, support NGO and create a future you desire to see!

 

When was mid-day meal started by Akshaya Patra?

One firm vision – ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’… just 1 kitchen to cook meals for 1,500 children… began the journey called Akshaya Patra!

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit organisation in India. In partnership with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, and various State Governments, Akshaya Patra implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme across the country. It was established in 2000 and is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Akshaya Patra then…

Once the idea of providing school lunch was conceptualised, Venu Vadana Gopal Dasa conducted a detailed research to choose the schools in need of the meals. Reminiscing the past, he says, “I went to explore the surrounding areas in Bengaluru and found that the schools in the outskirts and rural areas were in maximum need of a school Mid-Day Meal Programme. I visited Government schools in areas like Peenya, Chikkabidarakalu and Makali and was moved by the plight of the kids there. We then approached these schools and served the first meals on 3 June 2000 to a total of 1,500 children in five Government schools.”

Over a period, the impact of this initiative was witnessed in the form of increased enrolment, regularity in attendance, improved health, and better concentration during class hours. The overwhelming response from the schools brought to fore the need for the Mid-Day Meal Programme, leading Akshaya Patra to expand its service to more schools.

Initial hurdles…

The initial journey for this non-profit organisation in India wasn’t a smooth sail. The main concern was lack of food packing vessels and vehicles to transport the cooked meals. Philanthropists Mr Mohandas Pai stepped in by donating the first vehicle to transport food to the schools and Mr Abhay Jain promised to get more support in the form of donors to contribute for the programme.

A welcome progress…

As Akshaya Patra was already providing food for education through its school meal programme, it was called to give testimony for verifying the efficacy of providing cooked meals to schools. Following this, the Supreme Court of India passed a mandate on 28 November 2001 stating “We direct the State Governments/Union Territories to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary School with a prepared mid-day meal.” This was a welcome progression for Akshaya Patra and the Foundation partnered with the Central Government and various State Governments to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in a public-private partnership model.

Akshaya Patra now…

A journey that began by nourishing 1,500 children in one location has today grown to becoming a movement with 17,65,597 children in 45 locations across 12 states in India. The partnership with the Government under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme and constant support from well-wishers and donors helped Akshaya Patra to expand the food for education programme during the course of 18 years. It also aided the non-profit organisation in India to initiate several child-centric programmes such as Anganwadi feeding, scholarship, talent development, along with supporting the Foundation’s disaster relief feeding service.

Akshaya Patra in future…

With the mission to nourish 50 lakh children in India by 2025, Akshaya Patra is moving forward strategically and sustainably. The Foundation is certain that with concerted effort from the Government, the policy-makers, corporates and businesses, and the civil society, we will be able to create generations of healthy, educated, and resourceful citizens; empowering them to take on the mission called Prosperous India.