Derisk mid-day meal scheme for its sustainability: Murthy

Infosys chairman and mentor N R Narayana Murthy called for derisking Akshaya Patra Foundation's mid-day meal programme run by Iskcon, Bangalore.

The mid-day meal programme, that now feeds over 852,000 children everyday with freshly-cooked food everyday has to continuously find resources to keep it going, across the country.

He formulated a PSSD model (Predictability, Sustainable, Stakeholder satisfaction, Derisking) for Akshaya Patra to ensure its longevity and sustainability. Murthy said there should be 'predictability' in the working of Akshaya Patra including the refinances, costs and prices that it has to bear.

He said, it must be 'sustainable', which included financial and other resources. The 'stakeholder satisfaction' must also be ensured. He also called for 'derisking' the Akshaya Patra programme against externalities.

He called to derisk the project's revenue stream by not overdepending on only a few donors, and he called to derisk the technology, derisk vendors, and even if the governments changed, the project could be sustainable and did not get affected.

He said, the requirement for growth is scaleability. The growth must be managed such that all shareholders are satisfied. He, hence called for developing leadership to manage the programme. Processes and systems must become institutionalised, he added.

He was speaking at the 'Zero to Billion' conclave of industry and community leaders organised by the Akshaya Patra Foundation in Bangalore.

Akshaya Patra is now expected to be sustained at the present levels for sometime till it is able to find more sustainable sources of funds. Madhu Pandit Das, chairman, Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, "The objective of the conclave is to build a bridge between the hands that need help and hands give help."