The presentation ceremony of the
prestigious Padma Shri was held in the historic Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati
Bhavan at 11:30 am on Tuesday. Continuing the tradition, the Hon’ble President
of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Padma Shri to Madhu Pandit Dasa,
Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation. At the ceremony, illustrious
personalities recognised for contributions in varied fields were also present.
Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa was
honoured with the recognition for the distinguished service rendered by Akshaya
Patra for the children of India. On the occasion, he thanked the Government of
India for the recognition. With regard to the honour, he said, “I dedicate
this award to Srila Prabhupada, a true visionary who wanted to see a hunger
free world. This recognition shall give immense
encouragement to the Akshaya Patra team to
reach greater heights. It is our humble service of providing nutrition
to the government school children through the Akshaya Patra programme. It
is an inspiration for me and the entire team at Akshaya Patra to reach out to
many more hungry children of this country. Quality food for these children is
essential for quality education that will in turn create
citizens of great character. Our children are the real asset
of our nation.”
Madhu Pandit Dasa designed the
first centralised kitchen of Akshaya Patra, to provide mid-day meals to
underserved children in the Government schools of Bengaluru rural district
during July 2000. Under his inspiring leadership and impeccable commitment, the
organisation grew unceasingly towards its mission of feeding ‘5
million children by 2020.’
Akshaya Patra partners with the
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and various State
Governments as one of the most admired Public Private Partnerships in
education and child welfare. Scientific studies conducted by
leading research organisations such as A.C Nielson and Sigma clearly
established the positive impact of its mid-day meal programme.
Madhu Pandit Dasa set up a
robust Governance Model that has made Akshaya Patra a hallmark of transparency
and accountability. This is highlighted by the fact that Akshaya Patra is the
only NGO in the country to win the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
(ICAI) Gold Shield Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting five times in a
row and placed in its prestigious Hall of Fame.
Under his leadership, Akshaya
Patra has grown from providing 1500 children with mid-day meals to 1.5 million
children in 15 years, becoming the world’s largest NGO-run school lunch
programme. A Harvard case study, the Foundation has recently served the 2
billionth meal.
Madhu Pandit Dasa has completed
his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT-Mumbai in the year 1980. While he was
doing his M.Tech course in IIT-Mumbai in 1981, he dedicated himself to the
service of humanity by becoming a full-time member of ISKCON. Apart from being
the Chairman of Akshaya Patra, he also serves as the President of ISKCON
Bangalore and Chairman of Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir.
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