The public-private enterprise of Akshaya Patra which runs this mammoth school meal program is aided by central and state governments and private corporations. Commenting on the addition of one of major corporate sponsor to its growing list of stakeholders, Shri Madhu Pandita Das said, “To continue to feed the 8.5 lakh children everyday and also to reach its goal of feeding over a million children everyday by 2010, the foundation is very much dependent upon corporate participation in a big way. We are very grateful to Centum Electronics and to Mr. Apparao Maliavarapu, founder and managing director of Centum Electronics, for having been magnanimous in lending a hand to our efforts,”

“We are happy to support Akshaya Patra which is doing noble work for the welfare of the state and the people. Ours is a small gesture which we hope will prompt many others to do the same. It is important for India to fight illiteracy and hunger as we cannot call ourselves developed unless we can feed and educate all our children,” said Mr Apparao Maliavarapu, who is himself hold a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Dal Tech University in Canada was also a Ford Foundation scholar. He has played a instrumental role in taking his company to the forefront and is today recognised as a leading authority in the industry.

Featured in the 500 most valuable companies in India recently, Centum Electronics Limited Centum is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of electronics products. The organisation is a vertically integrated company with capabilities in design, engineering and manufacturing. The company designs and manufactures products for telecommunications, automotive, industrial and defense and aerospace markets. Centum has received many quality and export awards from major industry bodies and the state and central governments.

MORE ABOUT AKSHAYA PATRA

Unlimited Food for Education.

(NATIONAL LEVEL SCHOOL MEAL PROGRAMME)

According to a UNESCO report, around 13.5 million children in the age group of 6-13 years are out of school in India. Despite the trillion-dollar economic growth, a large chunk of India’s younger generation, does not have access to schools because of poverty and malnutrition.

To facilitate the education of needy children, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, provides unlimited noon meals in schools in partnership with the Central and respective state governments of India. Currently the program is feeding 8,38,000 children in over 4,500 government, government aided schools and anganwadis (day care centers) in 13 locations across India on any given day.

They are Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Bellary, Mangalore and Mysore in Karnataka, Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh, Jaipur, Nathdwara and Baran in Rajasthan, Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Puri in Orissa. This is the largest NGO run school meal program in the world.

What makes Akshaya Patra unique?

• The Akshaya Patra program uses centralized, automated kitchens for cooking food which is then distributed to schools through special purpose vehicles.
• Akshaya Patra’s kitchens can cook about 100,000 meals in less than five hours with least human intervention and sustained quality.
• A three item menu is served to children as per the recommendations of qualified nutritionists.
• Due to extensive mechanization of the kitchen, the program is able to offer children standardized, high quality, hygienic meals.
• The program also offers education and health interventions for holistic child development.
• Akshaya Patra is a secular, not-for-profit program implemented only in government schools where there is no discrimination whatsoever.
• The program is independently governed by a Board of Trustees & audited by KPMG.
• A study in the year 2006 by AC Nielsen Org Marg Pvt Ltd, has vouchsafed for the efficacy of the program in increasing attendance and enrolment in schools, improving nutritional status of these children, enhancing their learning abilities and reducing drop out rates.
• Akshaya Patra program is run with part subsidies from the government, besides financial support from corporates and individual philanthropists.
• All contributions to The Akshaya Patra Foundation are eligible for 100% tax deduction under section 35AC/80GGA(bb) of the Income Tax Act 1961 in India.
• With a vision to ensure that no child in India is deprived of education because of hunger, the Akshaya Patra Foundation is striving to end hunger and create a human resources pool that will propel India into the league of developed nations.

*Education for ALL Global Monitoring Report 2007, UNESCO