When natural disasters occur or conflicts break out, there is almost always an accompanying food security crisis. Wherever possible, Akshaya Patra is committed to placing its resources and expertise at the service of children and communities in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

In recent years, our emergency relief work has included the provision of food aid to communities suffering from flooding in various Indian states and from the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein we served over 244 million cumulative meals in the form of cooked meals and relief kits.

Recognising the special importance of early childhood development and nutrition, Akshaya Patra serves daily meals to more than 70,000 infants in nearly 3,000 Anganwadi nursery centres across India. Our nutritious meals support these young children to meet their early years development milestones while also laying the groundwork for their future growth.

In addition to supplementing nutrition for children under 6 years of age, the Anganwadi centres provide informal preschool learning, immunisation, health check-ups, referral services and nutrition and health education for parents. Akshaya Patra is also providing meals to pregnant and lactating mothers as part of our Anganwadi feeding programme.

Akshaya Patra operates a scholarships programme which provides financial assistance to deserving students, giving them the opportunity and tools to shape a better career path via post-secondary education.

Without this initiative, the disadvantaged students we support would be forced to drop out of their studies, despite possessing both the aspiration and aptitude to continue with their learning into the world of higher academia.

In recent years, we have incentivised thousands of underprivileged young people in India to continue their education - and thus enhance their future prospects - by supporting the funding of college and university tuition fees.