Akshaya Patra

In 2001, the Indian Supreme Court mandated that all government schools in the country provide lunch to its students free of charge, known as a mid-day meals program.  Over the past 30 years, mid-day meals programs, led by the state of Tamil Nadu, have proven tremendous not only enhancing nutrition amongst children, but also as a mechanism to promote school attendance by parents.

One of the most successful organizations in providing mid-day meals is known as Akshaya Patra.  It was set up in 2000 by the ISKCON Temple along with several individuals in Bangalore, and funded by the central government along with private foundations.  Akshaya Patra today provides fresh, mid-day meals to over one million students across the country.  Their largest factory is in Hubli in Karnataka, which makes over 185,000 meals per day and delivers them to approximately 80% of the government schools in the district.  As one enters the facility, there’s a sign that says “welcome to the world’s largest kitchen.”  The factory, while being state-of-the art, is simple and intuitive in its layout.  It has equipment which sorts and cleans its own rice, cuts vegetables and cooks and fills food into transportable cans.  The cans are carried with fresh, warm food by over 40 trucks to schools across the district every morning.  The meal composition consists of a nutritionally designed sambar, rice and yoghurt.  A lot of thought has been given to the way the meal is prepared.  For example, 4-5 nutrition-rich vegetables ranging from beet roots to moong sprouts are mixed into the sambar. Vegetables are rotated through the week to provide variety.  Also, the vegetables are cleverly cut to be small, as children have a tendency to otherwise remove them!  These days, it is hard to find a corporate canteen in India where the dal or sambar doesn’t have the consistency of water.  At Akshaya Patra, the dish is hearty.

A.C. Nielsen estimates that since the Hubli facility was set up in 2006, enrollment in schools in the Hubli-Dharward district, which has a population of about 1.2 million, has gone up by 15%.  The impact on learning, retention, life span, future productivity and quality of life of these children is also likely to be statistics altering.