Akshaya Patra–Unlimited food for education
In partnership with Infosys foundation
“Mystical objects have always been a part of Indian mythological/ stories. How thrilled would you be to witness one such object up-close?”
ISBR B-school organized a visit to ISKON AkshayaPatra on 21 July 2017.
“Akshaya Patra” was handed over to the pious Pandavas by the Sun God during their 13 years of exile to provide them with an inexhaustible amount of food. It has now traveled through time and has entered the present to facilitate the same noble objective of vanquishing hunger. ISKON took this initiative in the year 2000 and is operating as an NGO; their primary focus is to provide mid-day meals for the poor children studying in government schools. For management students, it is essential to understand how such huge units are managed in an untarnished manner for years. After visiting the temple, students headed to the production unit of Akshaya Patra where they were divided into a batch of 3 consisting of 20 students each. Here they were strictly instructed to wear head and slippers to maintain hygiene. The supervisor took the students through the entire kitchen and informed them of the whole process. Few questions asked by students to the Unit Manager of Akshay Patra were:
What are the challenges faced while training the employees?
Most employees are uninformed, so they are
taught methods of maintaining hygiene in the kitchen and time management.
How do you manage traffic in order to reach your destination at a specified time?
Actually we search the most suitable and short distance through Google Maps and on that basis we send our vehicles. We also find out which routes have more traffic signals. If we have less stoppage time, then we send more vehicles on that route and vice versa.
Do your employees get transferred to other units?
Yes, sometimes we shift our employees to other locations, but it largely depends on the requirement.
How do you manage to retain your employees?
Actually, besides their salary, the additional facilities provided to them are education for their children, medical assistance, financial support for marriage etc. These make them stay connected to the organization.
How profitable is your organization?
Akshaya Patra works on funds provided by different corporate giants like Tata, Infosys, the government and various others industries. The interest earned through these deposits are used for development purpose. After 5 years of tenure, principle amount has to be returned. To do that, we are becoming self-sustained through Akshaya Nidhi- a subsidiary to AkshayaPatra. It runs a canteen, which earns profit by providing the meal to different corporates and other associations: After the questionnaire session, all had a delicious lunch at Iskon Prasadam.