The Akshaya Patra Foundation was honoured with the ICAI Gold Shield Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the year 2016–2017 under the Category XII – Not-for-Profit Sector. The award was presented by Shri M Damodaran, former Chairman, Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in Mumbai to the CFO of Akshaya Patra, Mr R Ganesh.
The award was given based on the accounting practices adopted by the Foundation, the policies adopted for disclosure, and presentation of financial statements, among other information contained in the annual report and also the basis of degree of compliance with Accounting Standards, statutory guidelines, regulations, etc.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation has the distinction of being inducted into the Hall of Fame for winning the ICAI Gold Shield Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting five years in a row, under the same category for its Annual Reports from 2008-09 to 2012-13.
On receiving the prestigious award, Shri Chanchalapati Dasa, Vice Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation said, “We feel honoured and humbled. It is a recognition of our continuous and rigorous focus on transparency and accountability. We uphold the paramount principle of financial transparency in every single activity as an NGO, as it is the key to trust and reliability.”
About The Akshaya Patra Foundation
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Bengaluru, India. The organisation strives to fight issues like hunger and malnutrition in India. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government schools and Government aided schools, the Foundation aims not only to fight hunger but also to bring children to school. Since 2000, the organisation has worked towards reaching more children with wholesome food on every single school day. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is continuously leveraging technology to cater to millions of children. Its state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and they attract curious visitors from around the world. In partnership with the Government of India, various State Governments and inestimable support from many philanthropic donors and well-wishers; Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings serving just 1,500 school children across 5 schools. Today, Akshaya Patra Foundation is the world’s largest (not-for- profit run) Mid-Day Meal Programme serving wholesome food to over 1.66 million children from 13, 839 schools across 12 states in India.