‘There is no evidence of misuse of the government grants in this program’ states the report by the House Committee which was set up to enquire into several allegations made against The Akshaya Patra Foundation on the mid-day meal program implemented by the non-profit.
The report, which was presented to the Karnataka Assembly by a 10 member House Committee specifically formed for the purpose, categorically stated that ‘donations collected by ISKCON from various sources for the purpose of maintaining good quality food are being properly used.’ Allegations on the misuse of funds also included the real estate dealings of the India Heritage Trust and ISKCON charities, two legally independent trusts of ISKCON-Bangalore. On this the Committee stated ‘the real estate business (for fulfilling its objectives) engaged in by these two trusts is not illegal.’
The allegations which surfaced around June of 2009 also stated that it was illegal for the Foundation to collect funds for a Government sponsored program. The House Committee also investigated this ‘unauthorized collection of funds’ and, after examining the 2004 Central Government guidelines for the mid-day meal program stated ‘the Committee wishes to express its clear opinion that there is no need of taking any steps in this regard.’ In fact, the report also went on to add that Akshaya Patra spends more than the grants it receives from the Government for the Akshara Dasoha (official name of the Mid-day Meal program of the Government of Karnataka) scheme that the Foundation implements. The funds raised through public donations in India and abroad are used by the Foundation to compensate for its capital expenditure over and above the Government grants provided. This includes everything from setting up its state of the art centralized kitchens costing an average of Rs. 80-90 million rupees to dealing with the complex logistics and significant costs involved in transporting the freshly cooked food to over 1.2 million children everyday.
“Akshaya Patra has a very strong practice of disclosing its finances,” said Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman of the Foundation, going on to add that the non-profit’s financial report has won the ICAI-Gold Shield Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the second consecutive year. “That is how transparent we are,” he stated.
Another area of concern that the House Committee enquired into was the accusation that the Foundation used images of underprivileged children in order to collect donations, thereby bringing discredit to the nation of India. To this the Committee responded, ‘…there is no evidence that the Foundation has acted in any manner that brings discredit to the country.’
“They are maligning our name and the good work we are doing,” said Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of Akshaya Patra, stressing on the role of unsubstantiated negative articles in the media in biasing the public’s opinion against the organization. He went on to state, “After thorough investigations they have come up with this report giving us a clean sheet. We are thankful to the Government. Truth will prevail.”
The report, which was presented to the Karnataka Assembly by a 10 member House Committee specifically formed for the purpose, categorically stated that ‘donations collected by ISKCON from various sources for the purpose of maintaining good quality food are being properly used.’ Allegations on the misuse of funds also included the real estate dealings of the India Heritage Trust and ISKCON charities, two legally independent trusts of ISKCON-Bangalore. On this the Committee stated ‘the real estate business (for fulfilling its objectives) engaged in by these two trusts is not illegal.’
The allegations which surfaced around June of 2009 also stated that it was illegal for the Foundation to collect funds for a Government sponsored program. The House Committee also investigated this ‘unauthorized collection of funds’ and, after examining the 2004 Central Government guidelines for the mid-day meal program stated ‘the Committee wishes to express its clear opinion that there is no need of taking any steps in this regard.’ In fact, the report also went on to add that Akshaya Patra spends more than the grants it receives from the Government for the Akshara Dasoha (official name of the Mid-day Meal program of the Government of Karnataka) scheme that the Foundation implements. The funds raised through public donations in India and abroad are used by the Foundation to compensate for its capital expenditure over and above the Government grants provided. This includes everything from setting up its state of the art centralized kitchens costing an average of Rs. 80-90 million rupees to dealing with the complex logistics and significant costs involved in transporting the freshly cooked food to over 1.2 million children everyday.
“Akshaya Patra has a very strong practice of disclosing its finances,” said Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman of the Foundation, going on to add that the non-profit’s financial report has won the ICAI-Gold Shield Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the second consecutive year. “That is how transparent we are,” he stated.
Another area of concern that the House Committee enquired into was the accusation that the Foundation used images of underprivileged children in order to collect donations, thereby bringing discredit to the nation of India. To this the Committee responded, ‘…there is no evidence that the Foundation has acted in any manner that brings discredit to the country.’
“They are maligning our name and the good work we are doing,” said Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of Akshaya Patra, stressing on the role of unsubstantiated negative articles in the media in biasing the public’s opinion against the organization. He went on to state, “After thorough investigations they have come up with this report giving us a clean sheet. We are thankful to the Government. Truth will prevail.”
While this period of change is difficult enough in itself, it presents a special challenge to underprivileged children. They must grapple with the crippling reality of poverty along with the problems it presents everyday. And the stakes for them are even higher. Education is the ticket out of poverty. It is the gateway to their dreams.
Nearly 1120 students in 16 schools will benefit from the program, which will provide students with extra classes in Maths, Science, English and Kannada over a period of 107 days lasting till March of 2011. Teachers specially trained in the subjects will conduct the remedial classes after normal school hours. Regular tests and assessment based coaching will further add value to the students’ learning experience.