Our vision at Akshaya Patra is that ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’ and we have taken it as our mission to reach 5 million children by 2020.

A vision of this magnitude requires thinking and functioning far beyond the traditional approach. We have identified and are committed to innovation as the route to reach there. Not any innovation, but Orbit Shifting Innovation™. We are partnering with the best innovation mind in the industry, Erehwon Innovation Consulting – a pioneering innovation consulting firm that has developed Orbit Shifting Innovation™, as a methodology over the past 22 years through cutting edge research and engagements with several corporates around the world.

Akshaya Patra and Erehwon have begun a journey to institutionalise and embed innovation into the DNA of Akshaya Patra such that innovation becomes the ‘Defining’ and ‘Driving’ element in the working and functioning of the organisation. Through this journey, Akshaya Patra will expand its innovation portfolio in strategy and operations, embed innovation practices and rhythms into the organisation, and build the right structures and capability.

The first leg of the journey begins with setting up an institutional design for innovation and transforming the operations of our kitchens. As we get started, watch this space for more updates!

Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande recently took a tour of our Jaipur kitchen with Former US President Bill Clinton. The visit also entailed interacting with the beneficiaries at one of the schools and serving food among others. Deshpande, Ravindra Chamaria and the Government of India had made a Commitment to Clinton Global Initiative to scale up and reach out to more children with mid day meals, in 2008. To know more click here.

Talking to the Boston Globe correspondent about the visit and Akshaya Patra, Deshpande emphasised on the essence of mid day meal programme “One educated person in the family can lift the family out of poverty, break the cycle,” he said.

He explained Social Innovation as the application of business strategies to solve social problems and said “Technology and compassion, together, can make magic” referring to the mechanised kitchens of Akshaya Patra.

Akshaya Patra operates kitchens in 23 locations in India of which 21 kitchens are mechanised and 11 of them are ISO certified. Some of our kitchens have also been certified by International Food Safety Management System. The kitchens have the capacity to cook for up to 100,000 meals in a few hours. The roti (Indian bread) making machines convert the wheat to flour and then to dough and have the capacity to roll out up to 200,000 rotis.

The kitchens attract people from around the world and have become a model to study for institutes such as Harvard Business School. Read more on what Deshpande and others had to share about the Akshaya Patra with the correspondent on BostonGlobe.com

Source: http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2014/07/22/andover-philanthropist-works-distribute-school-meals-impoverished-indian-children/GF7FMpikDZX4OIN15ArF3H/story.html