General

In 2003, a committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India* recommended Akshaya Patra as an eligible project that could raise donations with 100% tax benefits to the donors. The program was reviewed again in 2006 and 2009 when 100% tax benefits were further extended for 3 years.

This has been crucial to Akshaya Patra, as it enabled the Foundation to raise the funds required for sustenance and growth. Despite the Government’s generous subsidies, we still rely heavily on the contributions of our kind donors to maintain the day to day operations.
The Private-Public Partnership model followed by Akshaya Patra ensures that the mid-day meal program is conducted within the guidelines of the Government. These guidelines (issued by Ministry of Human Resources Department) contain the following clause:

“The state government shall be fully responsible in implementing the program through NGOs support either for a cooked meal or pre cooked food variant in eligible schools.   To this extent the State Government or the NGO concerned, may mobilize resources for conversion of food grains in to a cooked meal.”
–    The Guidelines, in Annexure IX Para 7
Akshaya Patra’s application to the National Committee contained the following basis for the sustainability of the program:

•    Conversion cost support from State Govt         25%
•    Subsidized grain allotment                               25%
•    Donations                                                         45%
•    Others                                                                5%

In addition, the Trust Deed, filed with the various departments of the government, states:
8.xi To accept gifts, donations or contributions from individuals, corporate and non-profit organizations around the world so far as they are not inconsistent with the objects of the trust.

Nation building through civic partnership is also a very important aspect of the Government’s mid-day meal program. Therefore, voluntary contributions from the community to improve the meal are encouraged by the Guidelines of revised National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, 2004.

Akshaya Patra also tries to implement this aspect in its program by bringing together the movers and shakers of India to help close to 1.2 million children across the nation. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Sri Narayan Murthy, Smt Sudha Murthy, Smt Rajshree Birla, Sri Sajjan Jindal and Sri Sunil Mittal are just some of the leading members of society who are donors and well wishers of Akshaya Patra. In fact, in the year 2002, when we formally launched the fund raising for the Akshaya Patra program, the then Education Minister in Karnataka, Sri H.Vishwanath was the first person to contribute towards the program.

On a global level, the Foundation hopes to raise awareness for the mid-day meal program and increase support for the children of our country from people the world over. Any funds raised from foreign countries through our campaign are permitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, under Foreign Contributions (Regulations) Act. These make up only around 10% of our total requirements. All statements of donations received are reported to the Home Ministry year after year.

In fact, the Foundation has strong culture of reporting and transparency that complies with sound disclosure norms. The Gold Shield for Financial Reporting was conferred to the Akshaya Patra by the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India for our excellence in reporting.

In everything that we do, we have maintained strong ethics and adhered to all the guidelines and regulations set by the Government. Through it all, our only hope is to reach out to the children of our nation.

* the National Committee for Promotion of Social and Economic Welfare, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India)

It was their day and we wanted to give them something to remember! And going by the smiles at the end of the day, we at Udaan, can certainly say that we indeed gave them a reason to smile and an occasion to remember!

Udaan, a youth initiative of The Akshaya Patra Foundation was launched on 14th November 09. Our objective is to give wings to the dreams of the children in the schools where our school meal program is operational. We do this by organizing extra-curricular activities that help nurture the talent in the children. Our team of volunteers works directly with the children, helping them participate in activities and become confident young members of our society.

On the occasion of Children’s Day, we launched the program at Malleshwaram Government Model Primary School and invited the children of Government Urdu Medium School Malleshwaram to join us too. In all, we had 210 children participate in the event. As a run-up to the event, we had organized a special activity in the school on 13th November 2009. The Udaan team had visited the school with decorative colored papers, balloons, ribbons, etc. and adorned the walls of the classrooms. We invited the children to participate in a craft session with us.

The program on Children’s Day, started with colorful hand-prints of the children, teachers, and every one present, including our Executive Director and the Chief Guest Mr. S.B.Iyer (Retd. Director of ISRO). We also screened an exclusive video of the PSLV launch and the children were thrilled to see this.

We then rolled out ‘Bucket Full of Crayons’, our painting and art competition. It brought out the beautiful thoughts of children through the medium of colors and art. Uninhibited by a theme, the children expressed themselves freely and enjoyed putting their ideas on paper through visuals. The next event was a fun activity. The children had to dress with newspaper. They dressed themselves with different types of caps, bands skirts, etc. all made with newspaper. This was a group activity that brought together students from two different schools and saw them bonding well. By the end of the game we could see a good friendship between the children of the Kannada medium and the Urdu medium schools. It was certainly a day filled with high energy, positivity, hope and laughter. The cherry on the cake was the special Akshaya Patra food served to the children, which made them feel special.

Akshaya Patra and Udaan would like to thank all the volunteers who worked hard to make this day happen.

We, at Udaan, look forward to soaring to greater heights through the coming year.

Imagine a new-born child, the latest addition to a family of 5, fresh with the hope of a new beginning. She announces her arrival into the world with her first breath, fiercely staking her claim to life, much to the joy of her parents. Her very birth is a miracle.

Being born in a marginalized section of society, chances are high that before she has even begun on this journey of life, she will have to overcome many challenges. Of every thousand live births in India, she may be one of the 69 children who will not grow to see their 5th birthday. In fact, being born in a marginalized section of society, she is probably one of the 43% of under 5 children in the country who are either moderately or severely underweight[1]. Her mother herself is weak from the efforts of childbirth.

Her parents take her home to their small shack, shining with happiness, like all new parents. As her father leaves for his job at a nearby construction site, her mother settles in for a typical day. She cleans and cooks for her 3 other children and sends them to school. Now the rest of her day really begins. She must start her work making cotton wicks for oil lamps. Like the rest of the 42% of India’s population, she and her family must survive on less than $1.25 (approx. Rs. 57) a day[2]. The addition of a new member means there is an added strain on their meager resources. As she works through the hours, she must also take care of their baby girl.

The day wears on as she juggles motherhood with her job, growing more and more hungry as the time goes by. But there is not enough food for two proper meals in a day, much less three, and she must carry on until the evening. She thinks of the future of her children, dreams of what they could become in the future.

The dipping sun heralds the end of the day and she is surprised to see her husband return early from work. It is only 7:30 in the evening and he is already back. There is a reason for this. A reason that has nothing to do with them; it has gushed down from the wealthiest countries in the world, gathering momentum in its wake, wreaking the greatest havoc to the most vulnerable. The global economic crisis has reached their front step. And her husband has lost his job.

What will the family do now? Like 34% of the country’s over-15 population, both husband and wife can neither read nor write[3]. With less than 4 years of schooling, the new father’s chances of finding another job are slim in such bleak economic conditions. How will he keep his children in school now? More importantly, how will he even provide food for them? What will be the fate of their new born baby girl?

This may be an imaginary situation, but to thousands of fathers and mothers across the country, it is a reality. The fate of this baby girl is the fate of many. There is one way out of this grip of poverty: education, but how can they afford to even think of education when there is not enough for food? Every basic amenity is a luxury to the hungry, because hunger has a way of occupying the mind unlike anything else.
A person might ask: how can we help the family? If we posed that question to the mother or father, they might answer simply, “Help my child, and you will have helped me.”

To those of us who have the benefit of Fate’s kindness, one full meal a day may seem like nothing. But to others, especially children, to whom Fortune has not been so kind, it is the difference between poverty and prosperity. It means a full stomach and an invigorated mind that can concentrate on learning and growing, rather than trying to find the next meal. It means there is a chance at an education and a future.

Akshaya Patra provides that meal to over 1.2 million underprivileged children every school day. It may seem like nothing, but to thousands of parents across India, it means that the joy of their lives, their children, get to eat well and grow healthy. And dare to dream of a brighter tomorrow.

Source-[1,2,3]UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html#67

What are festivals for and why are they celebrated? It is to share the success, happiness and prosperity with your family and dear ones. Sometimes the most unexpected of requests come our way and yet it just goes to show how appreciated the work of Akshaya Patra is.

Recently a well wisher got in touch with us to say that this year her husband and she had decided to celebrate Diwali a little differently. They joined Akshaya Patra to show the world what these children are capable of, by adding some children into their family group.

Mr. Paritosh Mehta along with his wife Mrs. Manisha Mehta, owners of JRD Metal Industries Ltd, Udaipur came up with a novel idea of celebrating Diwali with a twist! Instead of sending gifts & sweets to their colleagues in the business world, they made a donation of the same amount on their clients & partners behalf towards the children that are supported by the school meal program of Akshaya Patra.

We once again salute the selfless interest that Mr. and Mrs. Mehta have shown in our cause and hope that it shall set an example to many others too.

A household is said to be food insecure when the people in it live in fear of hunger and starvation. Food insecurity affects millions around the world and children, the most vulnerable members of society, are the greatest affected it. Caught in the clutches of poverty and living a hand to mouth existence, many survive on less than one meal a day. While education may be the surest ticket out of the many dehumanizing and abject conditions faced by these children, improving their health and physical well being is the first, most important step to securing their future. Children deprived of the necessary nutrients due to food insecurity fall prey to malnutrition, stunted physical growth and reduced cognitive abilities, all of which eventually hamper their education.
The problem of malnutrition faced by the world’s children is very severe. One out of four – roughly 146 million – in developing countries is underweight and although India is growing economically, this has not been translated to reducing malnutrition among children in the country. In fact, ‘one half of all rural children [in India] are underweight for their age – roughly the same proportion as in 1992.’ On a global scale, approximately 27-28% of all children in developing countries are said to be underweight or stunted, with South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounting for the bulk of the deficit.

While it is important to develop long range programs that improve employability through promoting education, it is also equally necessary to implement schemes that directly provide children with food to improve their health and well being.
To combat this problem of hunger, the World Food Program and the International Fund for Agricultural Development came up with a practical ‘twin track solution’.
• Track one involves the creation of employment opportunities that increase the productivity and incomes of the underprivileged.
• Track two strategies provide direct access to food that will improve the health of the malnourished, increasing their well being and, therefore, their productivity.

‘Food for education’ programs, such as that implemented by Akshaya Patra, address both the hunger and education issues at once.

Reducing hunger is of primary importance in the successful accomplishment of all the MDGs, as it is the root cause of suffering that exacerbates the poverty cycle. A hungry child cannot focus on anything else because of its need for food. In order to truly help a child, therefore, we must first ensure that the child is well nourished and healthy.

But this is not enough to bring about effective change. Children must also be educated in order to break through the cycle of poverty. Food insecure, impoverished families cannot afford food, let alone school fees, and depend on children to work for their meals. In such cases, programs like the mid-day meal scheme have a big impact on the child. By providing lunch at school, we are not only ensuring the health of the child and encouraging education, but also helping to prevent their necessity to work for food.

Source: Moresha Benjamin / DNA

While education for the city’s underprivileged children is of utmost importance, it is equally exigent that they get regular, nutritious meals.

Recognising this, The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF), a Bangalore-based NGO that operates the world’s largest privately run midday meal programme, is planning to set up a centralised kitchen in the city. It will cater to the city’s state-run schools, as well as to NGOs conducting child education programmes.

“What is the use of education when a child goes hungry and cannot concentrate in class?” saidMadhu Pandit Dasa, chairman of the NGO, which feeds more than a million children at 17 locations in seven states.

“I have come across families who have sold their children’s books so that they can buy a day’s meal,” he added.

The NGO is backed by leading IT firms such as Cisco and Mindtree, high-profile individuals and also common citizens. Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys chairman Narayan Murthy, is one of the donors. Murthy said, “When I visited their Bangalore centre, I was pleased to see that the kitchen has really good hygienic standards. The cooks wear gloves, and cover their heads. The food is not only tasty but also nutritious.” She playfully added, “There have been times when I have visited them unannounced just so that I can enjoy a delicious meal.”

The NGO’s entry into the city has its share of hurdles. The foundation had been invited twice by the then-CM Vilasrao Deshmukh to set up a centre in Mumbai, but since it was then quite small, the project was not feasible. And now that it is ready, the present rules stipulate that such a programme can be initiated only by women welfare groups, and not by general NGOs. CP Das, TAPF’s vice president, said, “Why stop a good cause on grounds of gender? Are there no exceptions when the only purpose is betterment of humanity?”

The NGO also at the short end of Mumbai’s exorbitant property rates, as it needs a large centrally-located kitchen to reach out to all parts of the city.

Just a few minutes remained for lunch break but Santosh could wait no longer. There are hardly any words to describe the eagerness in the 7th standard student’s eyes as he looked out of the window, waiting for his lesson to be over. As the clock struck noon, Santosh along with his friends, ran into the dining area, ready for piping hot food. It was their favorite Akshaya Patra’s rice and sambhar today.

Like thousands of children across India, Santosh works in the evening at a construction site for a mere pittance. Having lost his mother at a young age, he lives with his uncle, who also works as a mason at the same site. Because he lives with his guardians, he cannot say no when asked to go to work, but fortunately for him, his uncle and aunt do not force him. Santosh wants to become a police officer. He says “I will study whatever it may take to become one.”

Manjunath, his friend, has a similar story to tell. His father, also a construction worker, puts constant pressure on him to go to work. But, the little boy’s aspiration to become an Engineer spurs him on to finish his education.

However, children like Santosh and Manjunath have many challenges to face: their circumstances may force them to drop out of the education system long before they can hope to make their dreams come true. Nearly 13.5 million underprivileged children in India like Manjunath and Santosh are out of school and into child labour in order to earn a single meal in a day.

What Akshaya Patra aims to do is give such children the boost they need to make the most of their lives. By providing freshly cooked mid-day meals to poor children, Akshaya Patra is helping them in the most effective way: it is providing them with a healthy balanced meal, so they have the energy to pursue their dreams.

Akshaya Patra’s food for education school meal program addresses two major problems facing India’s poor children: lack of food and lack of education.
The mid-day meal provided by the Foundation on all school days acts not only nourishes them, but also acts as an incentive to bring them back to school.

We hope that with continued effort, children like Santosh and Manjunath, will not have to give up their dreams just to be able to earn a meal.

Sometimes support comes to us from unexpected quarters and just goes to prove a point – if we do our job well, someone somewhere notices and justice is done! A recent case of support by an NRI well-wisher is a good example of this.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what brought you here? You’re a Brandeis graduate, you could be anywhere in the world,” I asked Geeta.

It was a causal Wednesday and like most Wednesdays, this one was full of its own mid-week nightmares. By the time I met Geeta, I was beginning to think the nightmare would never end. I asked the question almost as an afterthought, but I’m glad I did. Her answer kept me going for the rest of the day. In fact, it will stay with me forever.

“Have you visited the kitchen?” she asked. “It’s an amazing experience.”

She had heard of Akshaya Patra 9 years ago, when some of her friends told her about the organization. Curious to know more, she decided to visit our Bangalore kitchen and learn about what we do. After all, if she was going to donate money, she had to make sure it was going to the people.

“I came at four in the morning, because they said that’s when the kitchen started its preparations.”

“At four?” I asked, unable to process the information. For self-professed lazy people like me, four in the morning is a strange, alien concept.

“Yes four,” she replied with a smile sensing I must be a lazy person. I tried to put on a respectable frown.

In the early hours of the morning, she watched as they meticulously prepared for the coming day. Cutting vegetables, washing rice, cleaning dal.

“It was so wonderful to see it all. I couldn’t believe how much food they cooked in a few hours.”

Nearly 100 000 mails each day. I recalled the statistics. Close to 1.2 million meals across India. I knew all the facts and figures, but not until I heard her say it, did I realize the enormity of the work involved. One hundred thousand meals in just a few hours, I thought to myself. It is amazing. 1.2 million across India.

It’s more than just a figure, I thought to myself. Geeta’s enthusiasm was infectious.

“I saw them pack the food and followed one bus in its route. I saw the children eating the food. They were so happy. I have to tell you, it was an amazing experience! After that, I wanted to do everything I could to help them.”

So she started with raising funds for the organization. She made it her personal goal to help at least one child each day, went to all her friends and spread the word about the plight of children in India today. She told them about the staggering reality of these children’s lives, about her experience and her belief that if we work together we can really make a difference.

I heard her talk and I realized something. There are people in this world who spend each day complaining about the problems we face as a society: we have a population problem, we’re not doing enough as a country, our roads are not good enough, the system needs to change etc etc etc. The list is endless. We point our fingers and tch tch in a melancholy way about corrupt practices.

Then there are people who won’t say a word. They go about their life quietly, taking one step at a time, with a quiet confidence, with faith in the belief that if we simply do our work, things will change for the better.

Now if only I could stop being lazy…

It is truly frightening that two million children in India die because of hunger and add to our hunger statistics every year. This implies that in India 6000 children dies every single day because of starvation. The situation persists for decades because, for generations they continue to be clad with poverty unable to break the vicious cycle. To secure asingle meal for a day, children take up menial jobs in hazardous work environment which makes them vulnerable to dreadful diseases.

Today 13.5 million children are out of school because they have to arrange for their food for survival. For them going to school is not the priority but earning their meal is. Their hunger stops them from going to their classrooms and instead sends them to work.

Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit organization which has been trying to eradicate hunger and poverty since a decade. The foundation has been tirelessly working with a vision of“No child shall be deprived of education because of hunger”.

In all these years the organization has experienced that every child has a hungry mind which always crave to learn. They want to overcome their poverty and lead a worthy life. One filling meal can make them do wonders. Let us not deny them of their right to live a better life. Find out how we can bring hope in their life…

To know more about this Article and how to reach them please visit this link:http://www.akshayapatra.org/weshallovercome