Celebrating 22 years of feeding the hungry

It's a huge accomplishment that 22 years have passed since The Akshaya Patra Foundation was established in March 2001. Reflection is especially beneficial around significant anniversaries like our 22nd. Here is a look at our accomplishments till date and our future goals.

In 2001, following the Supreme Court’s mandate to provide free midday meals to all Government school children, Akshaya Patra, an NGO working towards the education and nutrition of children, extended its operations from serving hot meals to 1,500 children to 2 million children under the Midday Meal Scheme (now known as PM Poshan Abhiyan), with the help of India’s Central and State Governments.

The NGO now provides hot and nutritious school lunch in over 20,000 Government and Government-aided schools across the country to combat classroom hunger. Akshaya Patra runs on a Public-Private Partnership model that includes assistance from Local, State and Federal Governments as well as charitable donations.

A Pandemic Crusader

With the onset of the pandemic and the announcement of the nationwide loockdown to curb the spread of the virus, the nutritional needs of most of the midday meal (MDM) beneficiaries were affected to a great extent. But The Foundation quickly switched from MDM to providing food and other forms of relief to people across the country. Daily wage employees, labourers at building sites, workers in industrial areas, migratory labourers and rough sleepers received meals and food relief packs with basic goods.