Akshaya Patra

Feeding India's Schoolchildren

 Vision & Mission

VISION that no child should be deprived of education because of hunger!

MISSION to feed over 5 million children by 2020

 Education
• India faced multiple challenges in the education of its poor.

• The overall adult literacy rate was 61 percent in 2004.

• A gender disparity in literacy was prevalent, with male literacy rates

at around 73percent and female rates at 47 percent.

• According to USAID, India had the world's largest concentration of

desperately poor people.

• More than 300 million Indians lived in abject poverty,

Contd…

• 40- 60% of children aged 6-14 are not in

school.

• Literacy, especially among women, remains

low.

• Dropout rates remain high: approx. 40%

dropout before Class V.
Child Nutrition -India
• Home to one third of the world’s malnourished children.

• Half of all children under the age of four are undernourished.

• Under-nutrition is the underlying cause for about half of the 2.1 million
Under-5 deaths in India each year.
• 60 million underweight children.
• Ranks 93rd out of 119 developing countries in hunger (Global Hunger Index
2006)
• Inequalities in under-nutrition have increased between demographic,
socioeconomic and geographic groups
About Akshaya Patra
• In 2000, The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) was founded to address
the dual challenges of hunger and education in India.
• Motive behind the program:
• provide nutrition-rich midday meals to extremely underprivileged
children
in India with the aim of increasing
• school enrollment,
• reducing drop-out rates,
• and improving academic performance.
• Use of innovative methods to maintain efficiency, quality, and low cost.
• 11 kitchens feeding over 567,000 children daily
Contd…
• 1.2 million meals a day Mechanized, hygienic kitchens. Nutritious meals
as per local tastes Watch in action »
• 1.2 million children across 8 states and 18 locations. Specially-built
vehicles for safe, timely delivery
• Higher enrolment and attendance in schools
• Lower dropout rate
• Improved performance
• Healthier children
• Employs transparent operations and quality control.
• Largest NGO program of its kind.
• Long term effects on alleviating poverty.
Organogram
Cost , Efficiency , Quality
• Cost effectiveness
• Minimal overhead
• 6 INR per child per day ($0.13)
• Efficient processes
• Steam as cooking medium
• Mechanized cutting of vegetables
• Custom designed vehicles
• Quality control measures
• ISO Standard kitchens
• Training in hygiene and cooking methods
Fund Resources

• Akshaya Patra is feeding about 12 lakh children in 17 locations in India in

eight states.

• The subsidy we received in Karnataka (2009-10) is as follows:

• Class 1 to 7 : Rs.1.80 per child + 100 gms of rice per child per day
• Class 8 to 10 : Rs.2.20 per child + 150 gms of rice per child per day
Expenditure Outlay

• The national average cost of the meal that Akshaya Patra provides is Rs.5.09
(2009-10). The national average subsidy received from the government (cash
plus grain subsidy) is Rs.2.69.

• Hence there is a gap of Rs.2.41 to be raised by The Akshaya Patra Foundatio

to meet the running expenses.
Cost Breakup based on expenditure FY 09-10

Akshaya Patra feeds about 12 lakh children every day in the country.
This means, Akshaya Patra has to raise a donation of Rs.28.88 lakhs per school working day.
For this raise donations are raised from general public and corporations.
Operation Strategy

• High efficiency, Low Cost, and Quality: specially designed kitchens

with upgraded technology to maintain efficient processes.
• cook large amounts of food in a short time, and therefore keep costs low.
• The National Average cost of an Akshaya Patra meal to feed a child for an
entire year is $31.
• These kitchens use steam as a cooking medium, allowing the food to cook
faster and the vegetables to retain nutrients.
Key Process ideologue

• Leveraging local markets: Akshaya Patra sources its vegetables,

dairy products and other food stocks from local markets. This reduces
the costs associated with transportation, spoilage and replacement of
vegetables, dairy and grains, and supports local farmers. It also helps to
strengthen the local economy.

• centralized kitchen in Bangalore for urban areas and decentralized

strategy for the rural areas
Service Delivery….

• Cooking starts by 2:30 a.m. and the packing process is completed by 7:15
a.m.

• 22 customized vehicles delivers prepared meals to 145000 children in

486 schools

• Quality testing and change in the food taste according to the preferences
of the children done on continuous basis
Process Flow
Selection of Service Delivery Points
• Schools were selected based on demonstrated need and physical
location.
• With a centralized model of food preparation and delivery in the urban
areas, schools that were close to each other
• allowed more efficient delivery of meals. It also improved transportation
times when delivering food.
• In the rural areas, few schools were located nearby one another. Distance
and location prohibited delivery from a central location, and thus were
not primary factors in rural school selection.
Methodology
• Akshaya Patra chose to work with the least developed and only
remaining primitive tribe in Baran with a dispersed geography.
• Small decentralized kitchens were located
• It helped the villages set up kitchens at or near the local school and
provided basic infrastructure to start the kitchens.
• Construction of the stove, storage area, and washing area was done
under the organization’s guidance.
• By January 2007, the decentralized operations in Baran
• served 79 villages, feeding 15,000 children per day.
Contd…
• Self-help groups of four to six village women were formed to be
employed as cooks for the midday meals.
• Organization provided basic training in cooking, nutrition, and hygiene.
Maintaining accounts, inventory, and requisition slips, and often
teaching the women to count.
• Many of the women had not learned the days of the week, so Akshaya
Patra taught them to do different activities on different days,
simultaneously providing meal variety.
• Many village cooks were able to tour the nearest Akshaya Patra kitchen
to gain a better understanding of the work at hand.
Contd…

• Each village kitchen had one head cook who was responsible for
purchasing vegetables, firewood, and supervising the daily operations
• She earned 50 rupees for three hours per day.
• The other women earned 1,000 rupees per month.
• Many of the people in the village earned only 8 rupees per day and
worked long hours.
• The head cook position was rotated on a monthly basis so that each
woman had a chance to be responsible.
Impact
• AC Nielsen performed an impact assessment, measuring key indicators
such as enrollment, attendance and health.
• The outcome showed:
• Increased enrollment
• Better health and
• Improved performance among students who received school lunches,
especially among the female students.
• The report showed a 13.8 percent and 34.2 percent improvement in
enrollment for boys and girls respectively, in Bangalore schools.
• Attendance rates increased in all schools tested, particularly in
Vrindavan, where there was a 14.6 percent increase. Performance also
improved.
Road ahead ……..
• Adding Value
 Micronutrients
 Pregnant Mothers
 Increased standards
 Better impact assessment
• Creating long term partnerships
 NGOs
 Government
 Private Sector
 Student Groups