Our Work

3,004,681,800

3 BILLION school lunches served

18,02,517

1.8 MILLION school children served

Economic and social circumstances force children to forego education and engage in menial labour to earn a single meal a day. Research also shows that universal education has lagged because of prevailing hunger and malnutrition. These two factors reduce school enrolments, hamper performance levels and increase school drop-out rates, especially among girls.

 

HOW WE TACKLE IT

 

In the year 2001, the Supreme Court of India ordered all the state governments and union territories to implement a Mid-Day Meal Scheme and provide cooked meals to school children from Government and Government-aided schools. With support from the central and state governments, The Akshaya Patra Foundation expanded its operations to officially contribute towards the Mid-Day Meal Programme. 


Hunger, especially classroom hunger, impairs a child’s performance even if they do attend school. At this juncture, apart from the role of NGOs and indian charities in child education, our Mid-Day Meals act as a huge incentive in bringing these children to school. A guaranteed free meal every day enables them to abstain from working and instead encourages them to study and get educated. In this way, the programme also helps in the universalization of primary education.

 

 

Producing healthy meals efficiently

 

The Akshaya Patra Foundation operates based on a well-crafted module that puts hygiene and quality at the top of its priorities. We also believe that eating is not only for nutrition, it is also for taste. We want children to relish what they eat and hence, we prepare a different dish every day to break the monotony.
 

 

Innovation and technology

 

Akshaya Patra’s centralised kitchens are equipped to prepare meals for large scale feeding – producing on average 20K meals an hour. Food Safety Management Systems are implemented in all the kitchens be it centralised or decentralised, to handle, prepare and deliver food in the most efficient and safe manner.
 

 

Tri - Sector funding model

 

The Government partners with us by providing various subsidies, including grain subsidies and land subsidies; corporations and individuals across the world partner with us by generously committing to supporting and funding our work and acting as ambassadors for our cause.

 

 

Financial efficiency and transparency

 

Akshaya Patra upholds absolute transparency in all its activities. We comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We also comply with the Indian Accounting Standards issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). You may find our annual reports on the Akshaya Patra India website.

Our continuous and rigorous focus on transparency has been recognised with
 
  • ICAI Gold Shield Award for “Excellence in Financial Reporting” for five consecutive years since  2008-09 inducting Akshaya Patra into the ICAI Hall of Fame
  • Gold Award at League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) Vision Award for two consecutive years: 2010-11 and 2011-12

 

REDUCED MALNUTRITION

 

78.2% of parents surveyed perceived that their child’s health had improved due to having the Akshaya Patra school lunch. We strive to ensure that the balanced meals we serve go above and beyond guidelines for nutritional content set by the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme

 

INCREASED ENROLMENT

 

The meal we provide every day removes the financial burden of feeding the child from the parents, thereby acting as a primary incentive to send their child to school, regardless of gender. On average, student enrolment in Class I increased by 23.3% during the first year of programme implementation across all schools surveyed, and by as much as 41% in some schools.

 

INCREASED ATTENDANCE

 

Children look forward to coming to school every day for their delicious, varied meals, which are tailored according to regional cuisine preferences. Overall, attendance in the schools measured increased by a total of 11.67%.

 

MORE CHILDREN STAYING IN SCHOOL

 

The food security that our school lunches provide enable our beneficiaries to stay in school long term and complete their education. Because of family financial constraints, the lunches we serve are often the only wholesome, balanced meal students will receive all day and are therefore a major motivation to return to school every day.

 

INCREASED CONCENTRATION

 

A wholesome meal gives children the energy to learn and improves their attention span and participation in class. Close to 85% of teachers reported that the proportion of students achieving higher grades has increased.

 

IMPROVED SOCIALISATION

 

All of the children at our partner schools eat the same food as each other and sit down for their meal together. Eating as a group, regardless of caste or religion, has increased unity and fostered a sense of equality amongst the children we serve.


The impact of an Akshaya Patra meal is more than that of simply satiating a child’s hunger for the day;
it transforms lives.

 

Our Food For Education Programme has made a huge difference to the lives of many thousands of children across India. Studies show that the school lunches we provide improve the health of our beneficiaries - leading to stronger cognitive, social and emotional development. There is also a visible increase in enrolment and retention of children at our partner schools, and an increase in attendance too. These results can be found by clicking on the impact report tabs below. 

 
 

Feed a child in India for an entire month by donating £1.25

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