General

Akshaya Patra means inexhaustible vessel which can continuously supply food to the needy. I feel that hunger is the most dreadful disease faced by children in our country.

Hunger leads to malnutrition and affects the physical and mental growth and development of a child. Can we not make a Hunger free nation? I strongly believe that each one of us can make a difference to a child’s life by joining hands with The Akshaya Patra Foundation- world’s largest NGO run school meal program.

Last month I visited one of the Government schools near Kengeri (Doddabasti) to donate water filters as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility program. To few of our inquisitive questions about the school, performance and attendance of children the Principal of that school informed us that after Akshaya Patra Foundation started providing mid day meal in that school the number of students have drastically increased. The school has 630 children which is highest in that zone.

I feel if one meal can bring such wonderful results we should all join our hands with The Akshaya Patra Foundation and contribute towards a hunger free nation.

Article written by Hema Latha-one of our Facebook fans.

Social networking has become a powerful tool for the development sector. There were times when non profits had to splurge a lot just to create awareness about the cause and the great efforts they made where often unsung.

Today with the advent of Social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, myspace and many more NGOs can network with the globe without even spending a penny. They can get thousands of people supporting their cause just with a click of a mouse.

Akshaya Patra has been harnessing the social media since last two years. Akshaya Patra is known to have the largest kitchen in the world feeding more than 1 million children every day. But barely anyone knew about this fact until the day we started networking with people through this platform. Today it takes us just a count of seconds to let thousands of people located on different part of the world know about what is happening every minute in The Akshaya Patra Foundation through these social networking sites.

The social media not only helps an NGO to network and generate awareness about the cause, it also helps us get feedback from people across the globe on our work to better every time and move further.

In times of crises Social networking sites has always worked wonders. There are instances when people have raised lakhs of rupees from across the globe within just a few days to support some flood victims in some corner of the sphere.

Social media is a boon to the development sector which if exploited well can truly help us make this planet a better place to live it…

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has its operations over 18 locations across India, each one filled with its own triumphs and trials.

Lakshmikant Dasa, the location head of Hyderabad, explains the challenges faced by Akshaya Patra in that city. Located in an industrial area, the kitchen there has always had many hurdles to overcome, one of them being the problem of retaining workers.

We have therefore come up with many incentives in order to encourage them to stay. A bonus is given at the end of every month for all the employees who did not take leave during that period of 30 days. Every Saturday, movies are played for in-house workers and care is taken to ensure that good quality and varieties of food are provided to them.

Apart from all of the above, we see to it that they are not overburdened in the course of their work and are given all the support they need to help them do their jobs in an efficient and professional manner.

On  an early Sunday morning (the morning of 23rd May 2010), when every sensible human being is supposed to be snuggled in bed and fast sleep, many industrious souls of Bangalore gathered with uncontained excitement for an event that took the metropolitan by storm. The City’s reputed Sunfeast World 10K Marathon kicked off this year with even more gusto than was anticipated. The only one of its kind in Bangalore, this year the marathon had over 18 000 participants who ran in the event.

Starting from the famed Canteerva stadium and winding through the most beautiful streets of the city, the race was a traffic-stopping thrill that left many Bangloreans wishing for more.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation also took part in the race. We made up some of those industrious souls,  running through the Indian summer in our Aksahay Patra T-shirts, waving our banners with merry determination and unfailing team spirit.

“Food for Education!!” we cheered.

While most of the team took part in the 5.7 km ‘Majja’ Run however, one brave member of our staff, Saumya, ran the ‘Open 10K’ race. Inspired by the strength of the people around him, he completed the entire 10 km.

“There was one point when it was really difficult to continue, I thought I would give up. But you know what happened? A total stranger came up to me and said ‘keep running, don’t give up on the cause’. After I heard that, I couldn’t stop. He overtook me, that’s another thing…”

‘Keep running, don’t give up on the cause’

With such simple words the stranger captured the sprit of our donors and well-wishers. They have supported us through our most difficult times and encouraged us to keep running. We dedicate this article to all the thousands of people who have stood by us through the years.

It is YOUR hard work and strength that has helped 1.2 million children across India. It is YOU who have made us what we are today. And for that, we thank you.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is the largest NGO in the world to implement the mid-day meal program. Behind this simple statement lies a decade of hard work and selfless dedication of all the people that make up the Akshaya Patra family. Missionaries are an important part of that family. They work tirelessly everyday to ensure that the food reaching out to the children is both nutritious and hygienic. They ensure that the day to day operations of the kitchens follow strict regulations and principles. Often it is the missionaries who make the innovations and changes that are implemented in many of the kitchens. They work hard to maintain the smooth flow of the operations and put together the improvements required to make our kitchens the best in India. Shri Yudhishtira Krishna Dasa, the Location Head of Bellary, embodies the spirit of the missionaries when he says “I want to reach out to more children so that we bring a smile to each child. This will give the ultimate satisfaction. This program will give children an opportunity to serve the country better and they will definitely give in a much better way.”

Poverty continues to be one of the biggest hurdles India faces in its quest to emerge as a superpower of the new Millenium. There seems to be a ‘thin red line’ we must cross before we take a leap to the other side of the fence. Poverty is the vicious ‘keeper’, guarding it. A new study on nutritional challenges reports that more than half of child deaths in India are due to malnutrition. The rise of similar strident alarms has fallen on deaf ears. Akshaya Patra’s call for action has resonated with thousands of people across the world who wish to make a difference. We continue to believe that education is the only key for a cross over. No short cuts have been discovered so far. Our only appeal is, “Let’s give our children their right to a brighter future. Let’s give them their right to food and education.

Spread across 3 acres, the Hubli kitchen is one of the most innovative and technologically advanced of all the Akshaya Patra kitchens. It is ISO 22000 certified and follows all the norms and standards set by the International Organization for Standardization. Often acting as a research and development centre, it has given rise to many of the latest features and developments in our kitchens. It was the first facility to engineer the Gravity Flow Mechanism and has continually expanded its efforts to adopt more eco-friendly methods of operation. Not only does it have a Rainwater Harvesting Plant but also an Effluent Treatment Plant.

Effluent Treatment Plant

The first of its kind in Akshaya Patra, this is one of the ‘go green’ initiatives adopted by the kitchen. Waste water from the kitchen is collected and treated using an algae bio-culture. No chemicals are used. This recycled water is then reused for 2 purposes: cleaning vehicles and gardening.

Rain-water Harvesting Plant

Also a ‘green’ initiative, this is used to replenish the borehole that acts as a main water supply to the kitchen. Rain water from the entire campus is directed to a small pool that has been dug out. This pool stores water and acts as a reservoir for the borehole.

Future Plans

Authorities of the Hubli kitchen are now planning yet another initiative. They are in discussion with external agencies and experts on implementing a system to utilize solar energy. Their biggest challenge is storing a large quantity of solar energy, since the kitchen begins functioning at 3:00 am, when there is no sunlight.

They are also planning on installing a system which could create electricity using biological waste from the kitchen. With their interest and involvement in protecting our depleting natural resources, the Hubli kitchen is own its way to being known as a ‘Green Kitchen’.

One of the many salient features of the world’s largest kitchen includes the system to clean raw rice. This rice-cleaning machine was imported from Spain in the year 2005. The arrangement, with a capacity of cleaning up to 5 tons of rice in an hour, can be divided into three sections. The first section segregates metal adulterants such as nails, iron fillings etc; the second, a larger structure, segregates dust, moth, chaff, husk and broken rice grains while the third separates stones from the rice.

The rice supplied is fed manually into the system through a meshed inlet. From here it enters the first section of the arrangement, where rice grains flow around magnetic rollers that attract all ferrous particles present. There are seven such rollers which segregate impurities such as nails, screws, iron filings, steel chips, pins etc. The rice from here is lifted to an elevated level through bucket conveyors and is fed into the second section of the system.

Here, rice is loaded on vibrating trays to separate moth, chaff, husk and broken rice, a mechanism which took more than 5 months to be installed. The grains travel through different trays which segregate each impurity separately. These impurities are collected at the corresponding outlets. In this entire process, dust from the rice also gets segregated and is collected in the dust collector while the rice itself comes to the rice collector. From here, it is taken to the next phase of operations.

The rice de-stoner removes the presence of stones from raw rice. Imported from Japan, it forms the last stage of the rice cleaning process.

The cleaned rice is then lifted by bucket conveyors to be stored in the 160 metric tons silo.

The scorching summer has taken its toll in North India and school vacation is a welcome relief for many students. But for a large number of children, summer vacation means hard work at the local construction site to earn a little extra income.

This year, such underprivileged children have been given a ray of hope.

The State Government of Uttar Pradesh, happy with The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s service, has requested we continue the mid-day meal program during school vacations.

So even after the 15th of May, when all the schools close, we will be giving meals to the children on time.

We are happy and proud to provide these children with much needed nutrition.