Akshaya Patra

Feeding India's Schoolchildren

About Akshaya Patra an Introduction

The Akshaya Patra Foundation came into being in the year 2000 to address
two of the most immediate challenges of India - hunger and education by
providing unlimited, wholesome food to attract children to schools, retain
them and then focus on children’s holistic development.

The program started in a humble way in the year 2000 serving 1500
children in five schools in Bangalore. Presently it is feeding 305,340
children in 1,000 government schools in eight locations in India viz.
History

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 street dogs over scraps of food. From this simple, yet heart
breaking incident, came the determination that:  No one within a ten mile
radius of our center should go hungry.

It is his inspiration which helped us to create The Akshaya Patra Foundation

as it is today. 
Over View of Education and Child Nutrition
• 40- 60% of children aged 6-14 are not in school.

• Literacy, especially among women, remains low.

• Dropout rates remain high: approx. 40% dropout before Class V.

• India had the world's largest concentration of desperately poor people.

• Home to one third of the world’s malnourished children.

• Half of all children under the age of four are undernourished.
• 60 million underweight children.
• Ranks 93rd out of 119 developing countries in hunger (Global Hunger Index
2006)
• Inequalities in under-nutrition have increased between demographic,
socioeconomic and geographic groups
Vision & Mission

VISION :that no child should be deprived of education because of hunger!

MISSION :to feed over 5 million children by 2020

Goal
• To empower underprivileged children
• To liberate children from hunger and malnutrition
• To promote basic education and the ability to think clearly
• To acknowledge that all children have basic human rights
• To help children become resilient against diseases associated with
malnutrition
• To invest in a better world, and fulfill our global responsibility to protect
our future
Organogram
Operation Strategy

• High efficiency, Low Cost, and Quality: specially designed kitchens

with upgraded technology to maintain efficient processes.
• Cook large amounts of food in a short time, and therefore keep costs low.
• The National Average cost of an Akshaya Patra meal to feed a child for an
entire year is $31.
• These kitchens use steam as a cooking medium, allowing the food to cook
faster and the vegetables to retain nutrients.
Cost , Efficiency , Quality
• Cost effectiveness
• Minimal overhead
• 6 INR per child per day ($0.13)
• Efficient processes
• Steam as cooking medium
• Mechanized cutting of vegetables
• Custom designed vehicles
• Quality control measures
• ISO Standard kitchens
• Training in hygiene and cooking methods
Clip 1
Foot Prints……..
Clip 2
Service Delivery….

• Cooking starts by 2:30 a.m. and the packing process is completed by 7:15
a.m.

• 22 customized vehicles delivers prepared meals to 145000 children in

486 schools

• Quality testing and change in the food taste according to the preferences
of the children done on continuous basis
Growth Trajectory
Cost Breakup based on expenditure FY 09-10

Akshaya Patra feeds about 12 lakh children every day in the country.
This means, Akshaya Patra has to raise a donation of Rs.28.88 lakhs per school working day.
For this raise donations are raised from general public and corporations.
Key Challenges
Because of India’s enormous population, this vision was difficult to realize.

• Expansion of operations
• Management and funding
• Maintaining cost efficiencies
• Maintaining the Hygiene and Quality with Expansion
• Site selection
• Constant learning and improvement
• Challenges with the supply chain
• Replicating the model
Addressing the Key Challenges
Because of India’s enormous population, this vision was difficult to realize.

• Process Transformation
• Decentralization of Operation
• Incorporation of Automation
• Education the Local Labor
• Leveraging Local Markets
• Public/Private/Non-Government Organization Partnerships
• Transparency and Excellence
Process Transformation

Hub & Spoke Model – Urban centers Decentralized Model – Urban centers
Cooking Process Flow Automation
Impact

• AC Nielsen performed an impact assessment, measuring key indicators

such as enrollment, attendance and health.
The outcome showed:
• Increased enrollment
• Better health and improved performance among students who received
school lunches, especially among the female students.
• The report showed a 13.8 percent and 34.2 percent improvement in
enrollment for boys and girls respectively, in Bangalore schools.
• Attendance rates increased in all schools tested, Performance also
improved.
Road ahead ……..

• Adding Value
 Micronutrients
 Pregnant Mothers
 Increased standards
 Better impact assessment
• Creating long term partnerships
 NGOs
 Government
 Private Sector
 Student Groups
Why To donate
• To empower underprivileged children

• To liberate children from hunger and malnutrition

• To promote basic education and the ability to think clearly

• To acknowledge that all children have basic human rights

• To help children become resilient against diseases associated with

malnutrition

• To invest in a better world, and fulfill our global responsibility to protect

our future
Bibliography

• http://www.akshayapatra.org
• http://www.bbc.co.uk
• http://www.scribd.com
• http://www.goarticles.com
• http://society.ezinemark.com
• http://blogs.hbr.org
Thank you