A Detailed Dive In to The Akshaya Patra Foundation - NGO Based in India - A Detailed Review
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The Akshaya Patra Foundation NGO |
Akshaya Patra NGO Motto:
"No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger"
Akshaya Patra Organization History
A story of compassion is the stepping stone to the beginning of The Akshaya Patra Foundation.It was one of those life-changing encounters of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada ??? when he saw a group of children fighting with street dogs over scraps of food. This heartbreaking incident brought to fore the determination that: No one within a ten mile radius of our center should go hungry. In June 2000,inspiration was used by the creator of Akshay Patra who had taken the name of (ISKCON) and also had brought the senior member of ISKCON in court for no reason as was proven later The Akshaya Patra Foundation to feed the children of Government schools with a thoughtful and conscientious vision of "No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger".
Over a period of time a visible improvement in the health of the children was witnessed along with increased enrollment, steady attendance and better concentration during class hours. The initial days of implementing the program was not smooth sailing for the Foundation. The main concern was lack of vessels and vehicles to pack and transport the cooked food to the schools. Mohandas Pai and Abhay Jain, two of the pioneer philanthropists of the Foundation were instrumental in bringing some relief. Mohandas Pai stepped in by donating the first vehicle to deliver food to the schools and Abhay Jain assured to get more donors to further the program.
Once the Mid-Day Meal Scheme was mandated centrally by the Government of India in 2003, Akshaya Patra partnered with the Government to serve cooked meals at all Government schools. To be able to work towards tackling classroom hunger in association with the Government on the format of Public Private Parternship was a welcome progression for Akshaya Patra. This Partnership works towards meeting the following objectives:
- Eliminating classroom hunger
- Increasing school enrolment
- Increasing school attendance
- Improving socialisation among castes
- Addressing malnutrition, and
- Women empowerment
Akshaya Patra NGO Vision
"No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger"Akshaya Patra NGO Mission
To reach out to 5 million children by 2020Akshaya Patra's Mid-Day Meal Program
To improve primary education and counter classroom hunger the Government of India has developed two of the most significant programs-- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA); and
- Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)
However, the socio-economic scenario of India did require an incentive to further the SSA initiative. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme came by as an answer. The MDMS focuses on providing free school lunch at all Government schools in order to enhance enrollment, retention and attendance among children and also simultaneously to improve their nutritional levels. It was indeed a noteworthy initiative as the impact of this Scheme was progressively seen across the country. Witnessing the impact, the education sector received a 17% increase in budget allocation for the program. A total of around 11 crore children across 12 lakh schools are benefiting from the MDMS program.
Akshaya Patra implements the Mid- Day Meal program in 23 locations of 10 states of India. Each day the Foundation feeds 1.4 million children covering more than 10,000 Government schools. The Foundation follows both centralized and decentralized kitchen formats to implement the program . The NP-NSPE guidelines cite the Foundation's centralized kitchen format as a model infrastructure for large scale production of mid-day meals. Akshaya Patra also serves as a Member of the National Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee (NSMC) for the Mid-Day Meal Program.
The Akshaya Patra Kitchen Infrastructure will give an overview of its compliance to Food Safety and Quality Standards while preparing the meals. 11 centralized kitchens of the Foundation are ISO 22000:2005 certified and the remaining are in the process of getting certification.Working in partnership with the Central Government and various State Governments, along with the support of numerous philanthropists Akshaya Patra strives to feed 5 million children by 2020.
Other Programmes by Akshaya Patra Organization
Certain that the primary cause of Akshaya Patra is to actually compliment the creation of srila prabhupad??? by implementation of the mid-day meal program. But, apart from the mid-day meal program Akshaya Patra implements other feeding and socio-developmental initiatives too. Some of the programs are:| Feeding Programmes | Socio-developmental Initiatives |
|---|---|
| Anganwadi feeding | After class tuition's |
| Feeding expecting and lactating mothers | Life skills program |
| Feeding programs in special schools | Community health camps |
| Subsidized lunch for the economically backward | Scholarship programs |
| Feeding runaway children | Health check-up camps |
| Feeding programs in old-age homes | |
| Feeding the homeless | |
| Disaster relief |
- After class tuition's
- Community health camps
- Health check-up camps
- Life-skills programs
- Scholarship programs
Akshaya Patra Program Impact
In general, surveys show that since the implementation of Mid-day Meal Program by the Government and various NGOs, there has been an upward surge in school enrollment and attendance of the children. Studies also indicate that this program has been able to reduce drop-out rate.The impact of the mid-day meal has been witnessed in all the serving locations of Akshaya Patra. There have been few studies conducted to evaluate the impact of the program implementation by the Foundation. The studies are as follows: AC Nielsen Impact Study and Harvard Case Study. Some of the Government Studies are:
- Governance Knowledge Center
- Ministry of Human Resource Development
- Situation Analysis of Mid-Day Meal program in Rajasthan
- Report on Akshara Dasoha Scheme of Karnataka
- Increased enrollment – The mid-day meal acts as a great incentive for children to come to school. As more often than not, this meal becomes the child’s only meal for the day, it also acts parents to send their children to school.
- Increased attendance – Children look forward to coming to school every day because of the mid-day meal. As the Akshaya Patra meal caters to the regional palate it further suits the taste buds of the children and draws them to attend school.
- Increased concentration – A stomach full of freshly cooked nutritious and healthy mid-day meal keeps classroom hunger at bay and increases the child's concentration in class.
- Improved socialization – As the meal served by Akshaya Patra can be consumed universally by children of all caste and community it has fostered the habit of eating together. This intermingling has increased the unity among children of various religions and castes. It has also helped in removing divisional hierarchy in terms of social standing thereby enhancing a sense of equality among all children.
- Addressed malnutrition – Through the mid-day meal Akshaya Patra is striving to meet the nutritional requirements of children such as energy, carbohydrates, proteins and fat for school children.
- Empowered women – Women have been employed by the Foundation in different capacities in operations and other functional areas. Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) have also been appointed in De-centralized kitchen set-up for the cooking and managing the processes involved in mid-day meal preparation under the guidance of Akshaya Patra’s standard operating process. This opportunity has doubly benefited them by boosting their self-esteem and improving their social standing.
Akshaya Patra's Reach
Akshaya Patra feeds 1.4 million children every day across India. It is operational across 23 locations in 10 states of India and It follows the Centralized Kitchen format in 21 locations and De-centralized Kitchen format in 2 locations. Below is the list of state-wise presence of Akshaya Patra:| State / Location | Type of Kitchen | Year of establishment | Number of Children | Number of Schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | 5,249 | 7 | ||
| Vishakhapatnam | Centralized Kitchen | October 2008 | 5,249 | 7 |
| Assam | 53,649 | 592 | ||
| Guwahati | Centralized Kitchen | February 2010 | 53,649 | 592 |
| Chhattisgarh | 23,674 | 160 | ||
| Bhilai | Centralized Kitchen | January 2009 | 23,674 | 160 |
| Gujarat | 4,00,158 | 1,653 | ||
| Ahmedabad | Centralized Kitchen | August 2014 | 1,21,508 | 666 |
| Vadodara | Centralized Kitchen | November 2009 | 1,13,593 | 616 |
| Surat | Centralized Kitchen | June 2012 | 1,65,057 | 371 |
| Karnataka | 4,63,682 | 2,629 | ||
| Bangalore- HK Hill | Centralized Kitchen | June 2000 | 85,204 | 487 |
| Bellary | Centralized Kitchen | July 2006 | 1,15,945 | 575 |
| Hubli | Centralized Kitchen | July 2004 | 1,26,693 | 789 |
| Mangalore | Centralized Kitchen | December 2004 | 22,679 | 147 |
| Mysore | Centralized Kitchen | August 2004 | 13,835 | 63 |
| Bangalore-Vasanthapura | Centralized Kitchen | July 2007 | 99,326 | 568 |
| Odisha | 1,25,242 | 1,461 | ||
| Cuttack | Centralized Kitchen | July 2014 | 4,000 | 28 |
| Puri | Centralized Kitchen | June 2006 | 55,835 | 648 |
| Nayagarh | Decentralized Kitchen | March 2007 | 24,580 | 352 |
| Rourkela | Centralized Kitchen | November 2013 | 40,827 | 433 |
| Rajasthan | 1,35,910 | 1,830 | ||
| Jaipur | Centralized Kitchen | February 2004 | 92,763 | 1,081 |
| Nathdwara | Centralized Kitchen | June 2006 | 25,274 | 435 |
| Baran | Decentralized Kitchen | April 2005 | 11,456 | 166 |
| Jodhpur | Centralized Kitchen | August 2013 | 6,417 | 148 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1,39,262 | 1,874 | ||
| Vrindavan | Centralized Kitchen | August 2004 | 1,39,262 | 1,874 |
| Tamil Nadu | 718 | 1 | ||
| Chennai | Centralized Kitchen | July 2011 | 718 | 1 |
| Telangana | 54,849 | 454 | ||
| Hyderabad | Centralized Kitchen | October 2008 | 54849 | 454 |
Akshaya Patra USA
With your overwhelming and enduring support, Akshaya Patra USA exceeded its fundraising goal of $3.2m for 2012 by raising $5.6m. This includes a generous grant from Caterpillar Foundation for $2m for building a kitchen in UP.We are touched by the ever deepening commitment of the community to help bring about widespread impact and ensure that hunger is not a barrier to education for these 1.4 million children in India. We are forming a dynamic and engaged community of individuals who value Akshaya Patra's dual mission of eradicating hunger and promoting education simultaneously.
Our confidence in our ability as a community to create a truly transformative change grows more steadfast each year.
We thank you for making Akshaya Patra your philanthropic priority and we are counting on your continued support and encouragement in 2013. TOGETHER we will reach our goal to raise $4.3m for the deserving children in India this year.
Child sponsorship
Akshaya Patra aims to counter classroom hunger and aid in education of children. A donation of Rs 750 can serve a wholesome mid-day meal to one child for one whole academic year. The Foundation also has different modes of sponsorship that can be chosen by any donor to help this charitable cause. The sponsor can choose from the below list of options:- Online/Offline donation
- Sponsor a meal delivery vehicle
- Sponsor a school for a year
- Sponsor kitchen equipment
- Engage his/her organization as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative
Financial information
In keeping with the principle of transparency, the Foundation complies with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and with the Indian Accounting Standards issued by the Institute of Chartered accountants of India (ICAI) for reporting its financials year-on-year. Akshaya Patra publishes its Annual Report with audited financial reports and makes it available for all its stakeholders, at the end of every financial year.As a standard process of audit systems to ensure effectiveness of the internal controls, Akshaya Patra has appointed Chartered Accountant firms of repute, as Branch Auditors. The Branch Auditors submit the audited reports of their respective branches to the Management on a periodical basis. These reports are then reviewed by the Audit Committee through the Audit Department of the Foundation.
On an average, 82% of the total cost is used towards meeting the programme cost and 14% is utilised as programme management cost. 4% of the total cost is steered towards meeting fundraising and communication costs. As of March 2013, around 51% of funding (amounting to Rs. 40,668 lakhs) has been accounted for by Central and State Government grants and subsidies, allowing the Foundation to raise the remaining 49%.
Affiliated organizationsof Akshaya Patra NGO
The Akshaya Patra Foundation has received helping aid and goodwill support from many noteworthy organizations. Below is a list of few of the organizations; however this list is not exhaustive.- CISCO
- ABB Limited
- Genpact India
- Jindal Aluminium
- Maple Exports Pvt. Ltd.
- Jamsetji Tata Trust
- HDFC Bank Ltd
- Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL)
- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC)
- Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL)
- Hans Foundation
- Give India
- Kennametal Foundation
- Michael and Susan Dell Foundation
Awards and Recognitions
Akshaya Patra has been recipient of quite a few significant national and international awards.Recent awards
- Silver Award at Summit International Creative Award 2014 for creative representation of the Annual Report 2012-13 for the second time, with first silver for Annual Report 2011-12
- 20th Annual Communicator Award of Distinction for overall design in the Print category for Annual Report 2012-13
- Gold Shield Award by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for five consecutive financial years for Excellence in Financial Reporting: Annual Report 2008-09; 2009–10; 2010–11; 2011–12; 2012-13
- Gold Award for Annual Report 2011-12 by SAFA (South Asian Federation of Accountants)
- CII National Award for Food Safety 2013
- Gold Award at League of American Communications Professionals LACP 2012/13 Vision Awards
- Ranked 34th among Top 100 Annual Reports Worldwide at League of American Communications Professionals LACP 2012/13 Vision Awards
- Gold Award at Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) Corporate Collateral Awards 2014
- Honorary Award on Social Responsibility by LASSIB Society
Significant recognitions
- Akshaya Patra has been nominated to be the Member of National Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee (NSMC) for Mid-Day Meal Program
- Akshaya Patra is the first NGO to have got enlisted in the ICAI Hall of Fame and it is the third entry across all industries
- The Foundation is ranked 23rd among Top 100 NGOs by The Global Journal in its 2013 edition
- It is featured as one of the 8 game changers in the inaugural issue of Innowin- India’s first magazine dedicated to innovation
- Limca Book of Records and India Book of Records recognizes Akshaya Patra as running 'The world's largest school meal program’
- A documentary on Akshaya Patra was featured on National Television-Doordarshan
Visit Akshaya Patra Foundation Website
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