Rotarians learn about Akshaya Patra
Shridhar Venkat
2015-06-02-The_Gateway__June_2_to_June_8_
Shridhar Venkat, an Eisenhower Fellow with more than 23 years of experience with leading multinationals such as Philips, ABB and Webex Communications (CISCO), addressed the Rotary gathering last week as the CEO of Akshaya Patra Foundation. Venkat along with Mohandas Pai, a trustee of the foundation, highlighted the extent of malnutrition amongst children in India and their efforts to tackle this through one of the largest midday meal schemes in government schools across the country.
“Akshaya Patra takes its name from the legendary vessel in the Mahabharata which gave infinite food,” informed Venkat. True to its name, the organisation strives to be an Akshaya Patra for the numerous children attending government schools in India.
Founded by Mohandas Pai and Madhu Pandit Dasa, the Akshaya Patra Foundation has grown from feeding 1,500 children in 2000 to 1.3 million children today and is currently present in 24 locations across 10 states. “Our vision statement is that no child in India will be deprived of education because of hunger,” said Venkat whose mission is to feed no less than 5 million children by 2020.
“India is home to 40% of the 165 million malnourished children in the world. 40% of our country’s children are malnourished and about 8.1 million children are out of school,” stated Venkat. “Imagine being put in a classroom without any dinner or breakfast. Due to poverty, children drop out of school and take up menial jobs, missing out on the benefits of education. We have found that education is the most powerful factor to take an entire family out of the cycle of poverty.”
Highlighting the highly organised manner of operation, Venkat also explained how the foundation leveraged technology to reach out to the maximum number of children within the limited resources available. The foundation strives to produce meals efficiently, conserving both time and material. Working through central kitchens, the foundation ensures that the food provided is in sync with the local cuisine.
“This requires a lot of automation and the kitchens boast of conveyor belts and machines that can cook for 1,000 children in just 15 minutes. This also means the food is practically untouched by hand making it sterile and hygienic. The organisation also makes sure that the food is piping hot when delivered to the child.”
Venkat stressed on the finer aspects of this commendable venture. “Akshaya Patra not only takes care of the hunger aspect but it also takes care of the socialisation objective. All the children, irrespective of caste, creed and religion come together and share a good meal.”
Mohandas Pai spoke about the foundation’s humble beginnings in Bangalore and its success which led to the implementation of the programme in other states of India. They were invited to commence work in Gujarat by Narendra Modi and in Delhi by Sheila Dixit. However, the Delhi venture didn’t last and caused the organisation a lot of losses as the government didn’t deliver the promised financial aid.
Pai further enlightened the gathering with his experiences in the field and the ordeals of a public-private partnership. He spoke about having to deal with corrupt officials and getting past financial constraints as well as tackling the delivery of poor quality grains.
The organisation has also had to deal with other problems like lack of funds, negative media coverage, etc. “At one point we had accumulated a debt of `2 crore. We had no money but we had to continue to feed the children. It was Sudha Murthy, writer and wife of Narayana Murthy (of Infosys), who came to our aid,” said Pai.
Pai also narrated incidents where the foundation’s technologically advanced kitchens helped in disastrous situations. “There was a cloudburst in Rajasthan, which resulted in floods. In 24 hours, we mobilized and supplied food for 50,000 people,” said a proud Pai. “Even in the last Nepal earthquake, we were able to send rotis for 1,00,000 people in 24 hours. We want to work with the National Disaster Management Authority to help the rescue teams,” Pai added.
The foundation is known for its financial integrity as well. Ten of the Akshaya Patra kitchens are ISO certified and are regularly audited. The foundation has also entered the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India’s (ICAI) Hall of Fame. Venkat informed that their operational excellence and quality services have resulted in Harvard Business School including two case studies based on the foundation in their curriculum. A third is
currently underway.
Akshaya Patra has been complimented by many dignitaries including US president Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy. The foundation was also the recipient of various awards including the Microsoft award for the use of technology in the service sector and was named NGO of the Year by the Public Relations Society of India and conferred with the Vocational Award for Excellence by Rotary International.
The foundation hopes to wrap up their efforts by 2030. “We want to stop this programme by 2030 because we feel any NGO which tackles a fundamental issue of humanity should not become an instrument to perpetuate the problem by itself. Many NGOs want India to live in poverty because without poverty they have no reason for existing. We have told everybody that by 2030, if India doesn’t solve this problem, we are going to stop our efforts and then whatever happens is not our problem. We have done our bit,” said Pai.
“The latest data reveals that 30% of India’s children from 0-5 are malnourished. Some die possibly because of contaminated water and lack of toilets, but largely because of lack of food. If we can just involve ourselves and others in eliminating this kind of hunger, setting up kitchens where expectant mothers, nursing mothers in poor areas can get food, children will not suffer from malnutrition. When the mother is well nourished, the child will be nourished. And if you do this for the first two years, the child will grow up to be okay,” Pai added.
“I feel, as a society we don’t understand the problem. Many of us who are leaders in society have grown up with enough food. We have never known hunger and hence find it difficult to empathise with those who do. I urge you all to abstain from food for two days. Feel the pain; feel what hunger is and then you will understand. And when you feel it, then you will definitely do something about it,” Pai commented.
Pai praised Rotary for its accomplishments. “Rotary did a great service to humanity by eradicating polio. The world respects Rotary. The world thinks Rotary is an extraordinary organization,” he said. He concluded with a plea urging all Rotary members to support Akshaya Patra’s social mission.