History of The Akshaya Patra Foundation

Inspiration - The story of Hope

Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, once witnessed the disturbing sight of children fighting with dogs for scraps of food. Deeply touched by what he saw, he asked his followers to work towards a world where no one would go hungry, especially children. With this story of compassion as our inspiration, we started our school lunch programme in the year 2000 with the feeding of 1,500 children in five schools in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

22 Years of Service

2000

The journey begins with the feeding of 1,500 children from five schools in Bengaluru, Karnataka

2001

The Supreme Court of India rules for implementing Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme (now PM-POSHAN), giving an impetus to Akshaya Patra's school feeding programme

2002

Akshaya Patra's roti-making machines mark the first step towards technological innovation in the MDM sector

2003

MoU signed with the Government of Karnataka for Akshara Dasoha, an MDM programme for children, making Akshaya Patra the first NGO to start a public-private partnership in the MDM sector

2004

Largest state-of-the-art mega kitchen is set up in Hubballi in collaboration with Infosys Foundation

2005

Overcame accessibility barriers with the first decentralised kitchen model established in the remote location of Baran, Rajasthan

2006

AC Nielson conducts a study on Akshaya Patra's school lunch programme, finding significant improvement in attendance and enrolment since the commencement of the initiative

2007

Harvard Business School publishes a case study on Akshaya Patra

2008

Becomes first NGO to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Gold Shield Award for Best Financial Reporting in the NGO sector from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)

2009

Becomes first NGO to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Gold Shield Award for Best Financial Reporting in the NGO sector from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)

2010

Becomes first NGO to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Gold Shield Award for Best Financial Reporting in the NGO sector from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)

2011

Recognised in the Limca Book of Records as the 'World's Largest School Meal Programme'

Receives a letter of appreciation from the then U.S. President-elect, Mr Barack Obama

2012

Billionth cumulative meal served, reaching yet another significant milestone

2013

. First NGO to be inducted into the ICAI Hall of Fame for receiving the Gold Shield Award five years in a row

. Nominated as a member of the National Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee for the MDM Scheme (now PM-POSHAN)

2014

. Receives CII National Award for Food Safety for efficient management of Food Safety and Quality Systems (FSQS)

. Akshaya Patra was conferred the Asian MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise) award by CII (Confederation of Indian Industry).

2015

. Establishes the first Food Safety and Quality Control (FSQC) lab in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

. Conducts humanitarian relief-feeding efforts for those affected by the Nepal earthquake

2016

2 billion cumulative meals served and commemorated in an event attended by the then President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee

2017

Inaugurates the Great India Talent School in Kashirampara, Tripura, to provide holistic education to children from the Reang community

2018

. Receives the prestigious National Award for Child Welfare from the Hon'ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind

. Provides humanitarian food relief aid during Kerala floods

2019

. Commemorates the 3 billion cumulative meals milestone in the presence of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi

. Signs MoU with the Greater Chennai Corporation for the breakfast initiative, Kaalai Unavu Thittam

. Receives Gandhi Peace Prize 2016 from the Hon'ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind and the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India,Shri Narendra Modi

2020

Provides food relief aid in the form of cooked meals and relief kits to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, serving more than 11 crore cumulative meals as of 31st December, 2020

2021

. Achieves the milestone of serving 20 crore cumulative meals as a part of COVID-19 Food Relief Efforts

. Partners with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to form 'The Akshaya Patra Research Lab'

2022

. Akshaya Patra wins Mahatma Gandhi Award for social good and impact "Zero hunger"

. Achieves milestone of serving 2 million children every school day

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