The eighth state in India under Akshaya Patra’s light is Assam. We recently had a great Akshaya Patra inauguration at Guwahati, Assam.

It was a disused industrial shed, located about 1 km from the banks of the mighty river Brahmaputra which is now turned out to be the hygienic, technology-intensive Akshaya Patra kitchen. It was all because of the sincere efforts of Shri Janardhan Dasa,Akshaya Patra location Head, Assam, that the conversion took place in a record time of three months.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, world's largest NGO run school meal program bags the Tech Award 2009, a signature program of The Tech Museum, San Jose, California, USA. Akshaya Patra won the Microsoft Education Awards, in the category of education under The Tech Museum Awards 2009. The Award was presented with a cash prize of $ 50,000 at a glittering ceremony in San Jose, USA, for social entrepreneurs leveraging technology to benefit humanity.

On a recent business trip to India, a fellow Silicon Valley business executive was impressed by the management philosophy of the companies we visited. “The founders stay long after the companies become successful… They bring in family members to take part… Social causes and philanthropy are a key part of everyday business…”