The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Bengaluru, India. Our organisation strives to fight issues like hunger and malnutrition in India, by implementing the PM Poshan Abhiyaan (formerly known as the Mid-Day Meal Programme). Akshaya Patra aims not only to fight classroom hunger but also to bring children to school.
Since 2000, the organisation has worked towards reaching more children with wholesome food on every single school day.
Akshaya Patra is continuously leveraging technology to cater to millions of children. Its state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and they attract curious visitors from around the world.
In partnership with the Government of India; various State Governments, the inestimable support from many businesses, philanthropic donors and well-wishers; we have grown from our humble beginnings in the year 2000, serving just 1,500 children across 5 schools. Today Akshaya Patra is the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) mid-day meal programme serving wholesome food to around 2 million children from 22,367 schools across 14 states and 2 Union Territories of India.
A brief on the growth of The Akshaya Patra Foundation
On November 28, 2001 the Supreme Court of India passed a mandate that: "Cooked mid-day meal is to be provided in all the Government and Government-aided primary schools in all the states." Akshaya Patra was also called upon to provide testimonies to the Supreme Court.
By the time the Ministry of Human Resource Development - Department of School Health and Education extended its support to the initiative in 2003, Akshaya Patra was already reaching out to 23,000 children.
Today, Akshaya Patra has kitchens in 65 locations spread across 14 states and 2 Union Territories of India, a result of the successful partnership with the Government of India, various State Governments and generous supporters.
In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Akshaya Patra started its centralised kitchen operations in July 2011. With hygiene and cleanliness as our topmost priority, we feed meals to 5,627 children in 18 beneficiary schools.