'My Dream is to See Akshaya Patra Become Irrelevant by 2040'

CEO Shridhar Venkat on nourishing more children, dealing with government and private money, and the foundation's advocacy for change

- By SUVEEN SINHA & NAINI THAKER

Shridhar Venkat's corporate career was taking him to China when a chance meeting with Madhu Pandit Dasa brought him to Akshaya Patra Foundation in January 2006. At that time, the foundation was serving 150,000 midday meals at schools. It now serves 2.35 million meals and 1 million servings of morning nutrition every day, Monday to Saturday, at 25,000 government schools and Anganwadi centres in 16 states and three Union territories. As the foundation completes 25 years on November 11, Venkat, over the course of a lunch without onion and garlic, looks back at the ups and downs and the lessons, and looks ahead to a time when Akshaya Patra might no longer be required to play its current role.

Q How has the journey been?

I could not have asked God for more. I'll give you one example. A few days back, I was with Palo Alto Networks. Their head of CSR told me, "I have a surprise for you." At the end of the programme, he introduced me to a girl who was a beneficiary of Akshaya Patra for 10 years and now works with Palo Alto. I keep getting stories after stories of children whose lives have been transformed just because they get food and access to education.

Q You moved from a corporate setup to an NGO setup. How was it?

I was probably among the early movers in a senior role to a not-for-profit. At the time, the development sector was more of a jhola culture, with stubble and coffee. But I presented to the chairman of Akshaya Patra and his key people that there was no harm in imbibing what was there in the corporate world for doing good. So, you can use tech for good. You can use corporate practices for good. And Madhu Pandit Prabhu, the chairman, said let's do that. That's how we started getting people from the corporate sector. These are guys who do not come here for the salary. These are people who believe in what Akshaya Patra is doing.