10 Things to Know About Akshaya Patra in Karnataka
Author: Akshaya Patra
Currently spread across 10 states in India, The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF), an NGO which runs the world’s largest mid-day meal programme, had humble beginnings in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Here’s how its presence in the state grew and strengthened.
- Akshaya Patra was launched in Namma Bengaluru, Karnataka, in the year 2000, inspired by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s vow that no one within a 10-mile radius of his centre should go hungry.
- The organisation had a modest start, serving free, healthy and nutritious mid-day meals to the schoolchildren of five government schools in Bengaluru initially.
- The road towards feeding children in the state was a rocky one in the early days. However, support arrived in the form of T.V. Mohandas Pa, former member of the Board of Directors of Infosys and currently, the Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, who donated the first vehicle for transporting cooked food to schools.
4. By 2004, Akshaya Patra had established itself as a formidable NGO in Karnataka and catered to the mid-day meal needs of children in the cities of Hubballi, Mangaluru and Mysuru. In 2006, this charity for children also had a kitchen in Ballari.
- Akshaya Patra prepares its tasty and wholesome mid-day meals in its kitchens in Karnataka, where the staff follows a strict protocol for maintaining hygiene. They wear hair caps, face masks, gloves, gum boots and other protective gear, along with showering daily and washing their hands regularly.
- Four of Akshaya Patra’s kitchens in Karnataka are International Organization for Standardization –certified (ISO). These kitchens are – the HK Hill kitchen and Vasanthapura kitchen in Bengaluru, along with the ones in Ballari and Hubballi.
- The Karnataka kitchens of Akshaya Patra are all centralised kitchens that are able to produce up to one million meals. They utilise minimal human intervention, as they are mechanised cooking units.
- Karnataka has the highest number of Akshaya Patra’s beneficiaries. In Bengaluru, the HK Hill kitchen feeds 92,856 children in 466 schools, while the Vasanthapura kitchen feeds 101,635 children in 534 schools. The Hubballi kitchen cooks mid-day meals for 149,573 children in 789 schools; the Mangaluru kitchen prepares meals for 22,602 children in 147 schools, while the Mysuru kitchen feeds 16,668 schoolchildren in 66 schools. The Ballari kitchen cooks meals for 126,382 children in 534 schools.
- Numerous dignitaries have visited Akshaya Patra’s kitchens in Karnataka. These include former Indian President, the late APJ Abdul Kalam; Nobel laureate Muhammed Yunus, musicians Sona Mohapatra and Ram Sampath, among others.