Vision and Mission

Vision -
NO CHILD IN INDIA SHALL BE DEPRIVED OF EDUCATION
BECAUSE OF HUNGER.

Mission -
TO FEED 5 MILLION CHILDREN BY 2025.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India headquartered in Bengaluru. Our organisation
strives to eliminate classroom hunger by implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in the
government schools and government-aided schools. Alongside, Akshaya Patra also aims at
countering malnutrition and supporting the right to education of socio-economically disadvantaged
children.

Since 2000, Akshaya Patra has been concerting all its efforts towards providing fresh and nutritious
meals to children on every single school day. We are continuously leveraging technology to multiply
our reach. The state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and have attracted curious
visitors from around the world.

Our partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments, along with the
persistent support from corporates, individual donors, and well-wishers have helped us to grow
from serving just 1,500 children in 5 schools in 2000 to serving 1.8 million children.

Today, Akshaya Patra is the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) Mid-Day Meal Programme serving
wholesome food every school day to over 1.8 million children from 19,039 schools across 14 states &
2 Union territory of India.

Comparative Number of Meals

The Growth of the Akshaya Patra Foundation – A Quick Overview

On 28 November 2001, the Supreme Court of India passed a mandate, "Cooked mid-day meal is to
be provided in all the Government and Government-aided primary schools in all the states." And,
Akshaya Patra was also called upon to provide testimonies to the Supreme Court.

By the time the Ministry of Human Resource Development - Department of School Health and
Education extended its support to the initiative in 2003, Akshaya Patra was already reaching out to
23,000 children.

Today, Akshaya Patra has 60 kitchens spread across 14 states & 2 Union territories of India, a result
of the successful partnership with the Government of India, various State Governments and
generous supporters.
Board of Trustees

1) Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa

Chairman - The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Madhu Pandit Dasa was born in Nagercoil, India. Armed with a B.Tech in Civil
Engineering from IIT-Mumbai, he dedicated himself to the service of humanity while
doing his M.Tech from IIT-Mumbai in 1981. In 1994, he initiated an integrated social
development project for the benefit of rural people in Karnataka's Mysuru and Mandya
districts. He set up a prototype organic farm based on environment-friendly farming
methods, and an internationally-accredited farmer-training centre, on 110-acre land by
the banks of the river Kaveri in Srirangapatam. Inspired by his spiritual guru, Srila
Prabhupada’s message, he initiated the Akshaya Patra school lunch programme
alongwith Sh. Mohan Das Pai, to provide mid-day meals to children studying in five
government schools in Bengaluru. He was instrumental in designing the first centralised
and mechanised kitchen of Akshaya Patra, to provide mid-day meals to underprivileged
children in Government schools of Bengaluru Rural District, in July 2000. Currently, he is
involved in devising strategies for innovative new models, governance, visionary
guidance and in envisioning the path forward for the programme implementation.

2) Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa

Vice Chairman - The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa (a.k.a. S Chandrashekar) was born in 1963 in Bengaluru,
Karnataka, India. While an undergraduate student in PSG College of Technology,
Coimbatore, he became interested in the message and mission of Srila Prabhupada, the
founder-acharya of ISKCON. Later he joined Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
for a Masters program in Electrical & Communication Engineering. In 1984 he became a
full-time dedicated member of ISKCON-Bangalore. He has been involved in the
implementation of various programs of ISKCON-Bangalore and currently involved in
strategy, growth, and governance of Akshaya Patra Foundation.

3) Sri Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa

Trustee - The Akshaya Patra Foundation

Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa is responsible for overseeing the overall Operations of
Hyderabad Unit and is also providing guidance and governance to the Unit Operations
In-Charge. Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa holds an M.Tech degree from IIT Chennai. He
had worked with American MNC, Novell Software prior to starting his spiritual journey.

4) Sri Bharatarshabha Dasa

Regional President- Delhi NCR, UP and Uttarakhand The Akshaya Patra
Foundation
Inspired by the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, Bharatarshabha Dasa joined ISKCON
movement in 1992 while studying B Tech in Computer Science from REC Calicut. Since
then, he has dedicated his life in the service of society through various initiatives.
Akshaya Patra has immensely benefitted from his many contributions to address
classroom hunger across the country. In this direction, he has been handling multiple
areas related to public affairs, strategic outreach, policy planning and implementation,
programme management and emergency food relief activities. Bharatarshabha Dasa
serves as the Regional President for Akshaya Patra's feeding initiatives in Delhi NCR,
Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand . He has been instrumental in the commencement of the
organisation's feeding operations in various parts of India, such as Karnataka,
Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and NCR region.

5) Sri Anil Swarup

IAS (Retired) - Trustee Former Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource
Development (MHRD), Government of India
Anil Swarup is an Indian author and retired Indian Administrative Service officer of Uttar
Pradesh cadre from 1981 batch. Mr. Anil Swarup has served in various capacities in his
38 years of career and later went on to become the Secretary to the Government of
India. He has served in various key positions for both the Union Government and the
Government of Uttar Pradesh, as Education Secretary of India, Coal Secretary of India,
Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat of India, Additional Secretary of Labour &
Empowerment, Export Commissioner in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry of India
and as the District Magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri during the Babri Masjid-Ram
Janmabhoomi agitation under the former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh.

6) Sri K V Chowdary
IRS (Retired) - Trustee and Chairman of Audit Committee
K.V. Chowdary is an officer of the 1978 batch of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) who has
served as the Chairman of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Chairman
of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He has worked in the Department of Revenue
as an Under Secretary and the Department of Company Affairs as a Deputy Secretary.
A graduate in Mathematics from Loyola College, Chennai, and Post-Graduate in
Mathematics from IIT Madras, he has held several executive positions in the Income Tax
Department. An eloquent orator, he regularly addresses trade associations and
chambers of commerce, including FICCI, CII and Indo American Chamber of
Commerce, delivering talks on issues relating to integrity, anti-corruption, transparency
and governance, etc. Currently, he holds directorship in CCL Products (India) Limited
and Reliance Industries Limited.

7) Sri M S Unnikrishnan
Trustee CEO, IITB – Monash Research Academy, Mumbai Former
Managing Director & CEO, Thermax
M.S. Unnikrishnan is the Managing Director & CEO of the Company since 1st July 2007.
His current term as Managing Director & CEO is from 1st July 2017 to 30th June 2020.
Mr. Unnikrishnan began his career with Thermax after graduating in Mechanical
engineering from VNIT, Nagpur in 1982. He is a graduate in Advanced Management
Programme from the Harvard Business School, USA
8) Prof G Raghuram
Former Director, IIM-Bangalore.
Professor Raghuram is a Distinguished Visiting Faculty and Principal Academic Advisor
of the National Rail and Transportation Institute of the Ministry of Railways. He has been
Director, IIM Bangalore, from February 2017 to July 2020.. Prior to that, he was
Professor and Chairperson of the Public Systems Group at IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA). He
has been Dean (Faculty), IIMA, Vice-Chancellor of the Indian Maritime University and
Indian Railways Chair Professor at IIMA. He specializes in infrastructure and transport
systems, and logistics and supply chain management. He conducts research on the
railway, port, shipping, aviation and road sectors. He has been part of various
government policy making and advisory committees. He has been (and is) on the Board
of many companies and educational institutions. Raghuram has a BTech from IIT,
Madras; a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad; and a PhD
from Northwestern University, USA.

9) Smt Vidya Shah

Chairperson and CEO - EdelGive Foundation
Vidya Shah is the Chairperson and CEO of EdelGive Foundation, an organization
working towards building the capacities of the not for profit sector by using the resources
of the for-profit sector. Under her leadership and the support of its parent Edelweiss
Group, EdelGive Foundation has grown to become a platform for strategic philanthropy
in India.
Management Team
1)Shridhar Venkat
Chief Executive Officer
Shridhar has over 25 years of work experience and has been associated with leading
multinationals like Philips, ABB, Webex Communications (now CISCO), etc. Prior to
joining Akshaya Patra he was Vice President – Sales, Webex Communications. He
joined Akshayapatra in search of existential purpose in life .He holds a Bachelor’s
Degree in Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Management. He has been inducted in
the hall of distinguished alumni leaders by NMIMS. Shridhar is an Eisenhower Fellow for
Innovation and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program from Wharton
Business School . He is a recipient of Mother Teresa Social Leadership Scholarship . In
Akshaya Patra, he brings to the table strong people management and organization skills.
He believes that it is important to blend missionary spirit and professionalism to deliver
value.

2)Balaji M N
Chief Financial Officer
MN Balaji joined the Akshaya Patra team as Chief Financial Officer, with the intent to
strategize and execute plans for the sustainability and growth of the organisation. He is a
member of the Chartered Accountants of India and a certified member of ISACA, USA
(CISA). He has over 25 years of experience working with major firms, such as Deloitte
Haskins & Sells, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Moore Stephens, handling an
impressive list of clients, which included Hindustan Unilever Limited, Britannia, Titan
Company Limited, Honeywell India, Société Générale, Tata Coffee and Kalyan
Jewellers.

3) Mukesh Malik
Chief Operating Officer
Mukesh has over 25 years of work experience with the Dairy and Food Industry. He has
been associated with leading food companies like Bikanervala Foods, Parle Agro,
Kohinoor Foods, Devyani Foods, Dabur Foods, and the like. Prior to joining The
Akshaya Patra Foundation, he was Vice- President- Factories with Bikanervala Foods.
Mukesh holds a B.Tech degree in Dairy Technology and PGDBM in Management.
During his tenure, he worked for International Brands like Target Stores, ASDA-
Wallmart, Tastic, Woolworth, Comes, Costco, etc. In Akshaya Patra, he brings his rich
experience of Operations and Projects, New Product Development, Supply Chain
Management, Quality Assurance, Automation in Food Industries. He is going to offer
Best Manufacturing Practices with an aim to sustain and grow our manufacturing
operations.
4) MUKESH TIWARI
Chief Human Resources Officer
Mukesh Tiwari has two decades of experience in building and inspiring multi-cultural
teams that often surpass organizational expectations; driving HR initiatives to achieve
bottom line outcomes, while consistently promoting employee engagement, always
keeping organizational goals in mind. Prior to joining Akshaya, Mukesh’s professional
experience included being Chief Human Resource Officer for Abordare Technologies,
while also doing stints at other reputed organization like Caterpillar India, Caterpillar
China, ING India and HDFC. A goal-driven individual, he currently holds the position of
Chief Human Resources Officer at Akshaya Patra.

5) Ramadass Selvaraj
Chief Information Officer
Ramadass has joined Akshaya Patra as Chief Information Officer. He has over 19 years
of experience in application administration and operation excellence, including five years
of onsite consultancy, gained by managing large business vital information programmes
in CRM, ERP, POS, portal, mobility, and business intelligence analytics. Prior to joining
the Akshaya Patra team, his professional experience included stints at IFC (a RIL Group
company), Travel Food Services, Tata Sky, IBM - India, Birlasoft, and Tata Consultancy
Services.

6) Anant Arora
Chief Sustainability & Communication Officer
Anant heads the sustainability vertical aimed at creating momentum in foundation efforts
to advance its mission. He comes with an experience of nearly 3 decades in the
corporate and development sector and has worked in leadership roles for organisations
like Bharti Airtel Ltd, Xerox Corporation, The Nudge Foundation etc. His last role before
moving to the development sector was as the CEO for strategic enterprise business at
Bharti Airtel Limited. Anant holds a Degree in Industrial & Production Engineering and
has gone through executive leadership programs from INSEAD, Singapore and SOL,
Bobson college USA.

7) Hari Sankar
Director – Audit
Hari Shankar heads Akshaya Patra's Audit vertical as Director, and will drive auditing
standards, legal issues, internal audits, internal controls, and risk management. Hari
Shankar brings with him over 23 years of experience in Financial Planning and Analysis,
Accounting, Treasury, Legal & Compliances, Assurance and Advisory services with a
dedication to maintain high Quality Standards. Prior to joining Akshaya Patra, he was
with Eka Software Solutions Pvt Ltd as Vice President – Finance. He has also worked at
L&T Komatsu Ltd, GE Finance, Ocwen Financial Solutions and Deloitte. Hari Shankar is
a Chartered Accountant (CA), ICWA and CPA of Australia.
8) Saanil K Bhaskaran
Chief Program Officer
Saanil is our Chief Program Officer. He brings around 20 years of experience in Setting
up and Managing SBUs with P & L responsibility. Prior to joining Akshaya Patra, he
worked with Reuters, TCS, Capco, Symphony Services & First American. He is an
alumnus of IIM Bangalore. In Akshaya Patra, he is instrumental in scaling and improving
various functions like Donor Care, Individual Giving, Sourcing, Human Resources,
Information Technology and Social Business Ventures.

History of The Akshaya Patra Foundation

Looking out of a window, one day in Mayapur, a village near Calcutta, His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada saw a group of children fighting with stray dogs
over scraps of food. From this simple, yet heart-breaking incident was born a
determination that no child within a radius of ten miles from our centre should go hungry.
His inspiring resolve sowed the seeds of The Akshaya Patra Foundation. With the vision:
"No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger," Akshaya Patra
started the Mid-Day Meal Programme in June 2000 by serving mid-day meals to 1,500
children across five government schools in Bengaluru, Karnataka. A humble beginning,
yet, the initial days of implementing the programme was not a smooth sail. Soon came
the helping hands of Mohandas Pai, who took the initiative of donating the first vehicle to
transport food to the schools; and Abhay Jain, who promised to bring in more donors to
contribute for the further expansion of the programme.
In partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments, as well as
philanthropic donors; the organisation is running the world’s largest Mid-Day Meal
Programme. Built on a Public-Private Partnership model, Akshaya Patra combines good
management, innovative technology, and smart engineering to deliver nutritious and
hygienic school lunch on every school day.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Reach
Akshaya Patra reaches out to 18,00,907 children in 61 kitchens across 14 States & 2
Union Territories of India, providing them with freshly cooked meal on all school days.
Currently, we implement the mid-day meal programme in 19,039 schools of the country,
with plans to increase that number to hundreds more.

Number of
State / Location Number of Children Schools Type of Kitchen
Andhra Pradesh 1,25,340 1,433
Visakhapatnam 19,481 155 Centralised Kitchen
Kakinada 10,667 204 Centralised Kitchen
Mangalagiri 12,244 204 Centralised Kitchen
Nellore 14,524 232 Centralised Kitchen
Ghambiram 17,614 50 Centralised Kitchen
Gudivada 7,663 83 Centralised Kitchen
Srikakulam 19,741 307 Centralised Kitchen
Kuppam 23,405 315 Centralised Kitchen
New Kitchen. Awaiting
Ongole Information Centralised Kitchen
New Kitchen. Awaiting
Kalyandurg Information Centralised Kitchen
Assam 23,861 546
Guwahati (ISO 22000:2005) 23,861 546 Centralised Kitchen
Chhattisgarh 18,181 130
Bhilai (ISO 22000:2005) 18,181 130 Centralised Kitchen
Daman & DNH 42,213 348
Silvassa 42,213 348 Centralised Kitchen
Delhi 38,538 169
DMC 15,267 27 Centralised Kitchen
Jhangirpuri 11,170 83 Centralised Kitchen
Badli 12,101 59 Centralised Kitchen
Gole Market 5,926 12 Centralised Kitchen
Gujarat 4,14,496 2,169
Ahmedabad (ISO 22000:2005) 99,135 518 Centralised Kitchen
Bhavnagar (ISO 22000:2005) 13,897 56 Centralised Kitchen
Vadodara (ISO 22000:2005) 84,907 620 Centralised Kitchen
Surat (ISO 22000:2005) 12,75,08 357 Centralised Kitchen
 Number of
State / Location Number of Children Schools Type of Kitchen
Kalol (ISO 22000:2005) 26,143 91 Centralised Kitchen
Bhuj 20,694 179 Centralised Kitchen
New Kitchen. Awaiting
Jamnagar Information Centralised Kitchen
Karnataka 3,98,761 3,056
Bengaluru – HK Hill (ISO 22000:2005) 65,877 555 Centralised Kitchen
Bengaluru -Vasanthapura (ISO
22000:2005) 65,372 607 Centralised Kitchen
Ballari (ISO 22000:2005, ISO 14001, OHSAS
18001) 83,670 577 Centralised Kitchen
Hubballi (ISO 22000:2005, ISO 14001, OHSAS
18001) 1,05,769 811 Centralised Kitchen
Mangaluru 12,795 135 Centralised Kitchen
Mysuru 14,384 142 Centralised Kitchen
Jigani (ISO 22000:2005) 46,094 181 Centralised Kitchen
Jalahalli 4800 48 Centralised Kitchen
Odisha 1,58,095 2,050
Bhubaneshwar (ISO 22000:2005) 62,489 729 Centralised Kitchen
Puri 43,555 654 Centralised Kitchen
Decentralised
Nayagarh 17,536 319 Kitchen
Rourkela (ISO 22000:2005) 34,515 348 Centralised Kitchen
Rajasthan 2,31,187 4,428
Jaipur (ISO 22000:2005) 1,08,802 1,859 Centralised Kitchen
Jodhpur 8,992 209 Centralised Kitchen
Nathdwara (ISO 22000:2005) 35,141 899 Centralised Kitchen
Ajmer (ISO 22000:2005) 12,735 189 Centralised Kitchen
Decentralised
Baran 8,894 161 Kitchen
Bhilwara 9,026 127 Centralised Kitchen
Jhalawar 9,793 220 Centralised Kitchen
Bikaner 14,568 291 Centralised Kitchen
Udaipur 15,146 318 Centralised Kitchen
Chittorgarh 8,090 155 Centralised Kitchen
Maharashtra 21,892 398
Nagpur 10,487 245 Centralised Kitchen
Thane ((ISO 22000:2018)) 11,405 153 Centralised Kitchen
Pune 7915 26 Centralised Kitchen
Tamil Nadu 5,627 18
Chennai 5,627 18 Centralised Kitchen
Puducherry
New Kitchen. Awaiting
Puducherry Information Centralised Kitchen
Telangana 1,45,593 1,198
Kandi 83,951 677 Centralised Kitchen
Narsingi 23,345 201 Centralised Kitchen
Nawabpet 17,710 280 Centralised Kitchen
Warangal 20,586 40 Centralised Kitchen
Tripura 527 02
Kashirampara 527 02 Centralised Kitchen
Uttar Pradesh 2,23,608 3,490
Lucknow (ISO 22000:2005) 97,366 1,354 Centralised Kitchen
Vrindavan (ISO 22000:2005) 1,16,642 2,032 Centralised Kitchen
Gorakhpur 9,600 104 Centralised Kitchen
Mant 12,965 244 Centralised Kitchen
 Number of
State / Location Number of Children Schools Type of Kitchen
Uttarakhand
New Kitchen. Awaiting
Gadarpur Information Centralised Kitchen
TOTAL 18,00,907 19,039

CSR Opportunities
WHY SHOULD YOU ASSOCIATE WITH THE AKSHAYA PATRA FOUNDATION?
In India 43 per cent of children are malnourished and 1.5 million are on the brink of
becoming victims of malnourishment because of inflation. On the other side, 1.8 million
children in India are out of school. We at Akshaya Patra strive to address issues related
to malnutrition, hunger and deprivation of education by incentivising food to bring
children to school. Our aim is to nourish children ensuring they access education. For
this, we need your support.
By working with Akshaya Patra, you strengthen us in reaching more children every day.
Your CSR activity would ensure nourishment to each child we reach and keep them in
school. You could help us in developing sustainable models and augment our
scalability.

Since inception, The Akshaya Patra Foundation has received valuable support from its
philanthropic corporate partners. As a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, many
private and public sector organisations have wholeheartedly come forward to support the
cause of Akshaya Patra.
Many CSR opportunities are made available for the companies who choose to partner
with us. Below are a few of them:
 Strategic philanthropy through funds & in-kind contributions
 Cause-marketing initiatives
 Events & sponsorship
 Innovations & project solutions for children
For more details, please contact us at infodesk@akshayapatra.org
Read More: Why should you associate with The Akshaya Patra Foundation?