On a recent business trip to India, a fellow Silicon Valley business executive was impressed by the management philosophy of the companies we visited. “The founders stay long after the companies become successful… They bring in family members to take part… Social causes and philanthropy are a key part of everyday business…”

This socially-responsible management style which I call, “Spiritual Capitalism” is not unique to India. However the country’s dramatic social challenges do tend to spur a significant amount of philanthropic action by its countrymen and women.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, SandHill.com spoke with two of I.T.’s business leaders – and active philanthropists – Infosys Technologies co-founder Narayana Murthy and Sycamore Networks co-founder and chairman Desh Deshpande – about their success with the Akshaya Patra Foundation, a non-profit devoted to feeding and educating underprivileged children. The leaders explain the success of Akshaya Patra, how they became involved in their philanthropic efforts and how other technology executives can find a way to increase their practice of social capitalism.

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Six out of 10 children are undernourished in India. Malnutrition accounts for 50% of the child death in this country’. A report on the state of food insecurity in rural India, states that more than 1.5 million children are vulnerable to malnutrition because of the raise in global food prices.

Chronic undernutrition in childhood is linked to slower cognitive development and serious health impairments later in life and reduce the quality of life and also the economic productivity of people.(Scrimchaw 1996). Hence malnutrition is not only the effect but is also a cause of poverty.

The report, released as part of the 2008 Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), ranks India at 66 out of 88 countries. The report says that regardless of the healthy economic growth, India scored worse than nearly 25 sub- Saharan African countries and all of South Asia, except Bangladesh.
The report further says that, when Indian states are compared to countries in the Global Hunger Index, [the central Indian state of] Madhya Pradesh ranks between Ethiopia and Chad.

A report brought out by the United Nations World Food Programme says that More than 70% of children (under-5) suffer from anemia and 80% of them lack vitamin supplements. According to the report, the proportion of anemic children has actually increased by 6% in the past six years with 11 out of 19 states having more than 80% of its children suffering from anemia.

When we talk about these horrifying statistics we do not intend to glorify the poverty of our country to the outside world. Rather this is to aware our citizens about the brutal reality facing our nation and work towards the solution.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an organization which has been striving to make sure that no child in India is deprived of their basic right to food. The organization believes that mare feeding is not important. What matters is, providing the children a meal which has a high nutritional value.

Akshaya Patra provides a non-negotiable three item menu which is different in different states depending on the staple diet of the respective region. The organization experienced that an average intake per child is between 70 to 80 grams. As a mother finds out a new tasty recipe everyday to increase the intake of the child, Akshaya Patra similarly struggles day in and out to make the meal tasty and nutritious. For an instance as children does not like to eat rice much, the organization has tried to make the menu interesting and thereby increase the intake by replacing rice with idly once or twice a week.

We know that milk contains calcium and other essential nutrients and it help children to grow their bones. Children with the age group of 4 and 8 require 800 mg of calcium a day while children with the ages of 9 to 18 need 1,300 mg a day. In order to ensure that children also get sufficient calcium Akshaya Patra serves curd to the children.

Starting with 1500 children in the year 2000 currently the organization is feeding 1.2 million children every day in 8 states and 18 locations across India. The organization has an ambitious aim to feed 5 million children by 2020.
Help the foundation eliminate hunger from our nation. Join the movement and be a change so that these statistics does not haunt us anymore.