Mid-day Meal is a project of Govt of India in coordination with the State Govt. The aim of this project is to provide a nutritious cooked meals to students in Municipal and Govt aided schools.

ISKCON Food Relief Foundation is helping the Govt by implementing the project under the brand name of Annamrita. The aim of the Annamrita’s Midday meal Project is to provide nutritious cooked meals to students in Municipal and Govt aided schools as well as non aided slum schools.

Mid Day meals were started by the government, as an incentive to increase enrolment in schools, reduce dropout rates and tackle the issue of classroom hunger. The aim is to give children a healthy education and reduce child labour and guarantee a nutritious and sanctified meal daily. Ultimately, a healthy and educated future generation.

IFRF is a non-religious, non-sectarian, not for profit charitable organisation registered with the Charity Commissioner Mumbai

The genesis of ISKCON Food Relief Foundation dates back to 1974, when Srila Prabhupada noticed a group of village children fighting with street dogs over scraps of food, shocked and saddened by what he saw, he turned to his disciples and said, “No one within a ten mile radius of our temples should go hungry”. Being inspired by Srila Prabhupada’s vision, IFRF partnered with the Government of India when they launched a strategic program in 1994 called the Midday Meal Scheme to fight two of the most pressing problems of India – hunger and illiteracy, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation saw a great opportunity to support by providing children with the right nutrition to supplement their education and attract them to school.

A Name of Trust: ISKCON Food Relief Foundation
Registered Office: Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Mumbai 400049
Head Office: 7 K M Munshi Marg, Girgaum Chowpatty, Mumbai 400007
Admin Office: 19 Jaywant Industrial Estate, 63 Tardeo Road, Tardeo Mumbai 400034

• Mr. Kushal N. Desai
• Mr. Yogesh Chadha
• Mr. Sanjiv Maheshwari
• Mr. Kunjan Gandhi
• Mr. Sanjay Tikku
• Mr. Rajendra Kumar Pujari
• H.G. P. Satya Gopinath Das
• H.G. Rishi Kumara Das
• Mr. Sandeep Gupta

• Dr. Ravindra Khatanhar
• Mr. Yogesh Chadha
• Mr. Kushal Desai

1. Maharashtra
2. Delhi
3. Haryana
4. Jharkhand
5. Andhra Pradesh
6. Rajasthan
7. West Bengal

More than 9,86,304 students are benefitted every day. 12 lakh meals served daily across India.

7 Kitchens
1725 schools
2,80,587 meals everyday
99 Vans
4500 Kms everyday

Annamrita is a strategic project which helps the Government to resolve two interrelated problems namely Malnutrition and Illiteracy.

Our centralized hi-tech ISO certified kitchens are technology intensive models that can be efficiently scaled and replicated.

The project is transparent, professionally managed, run by a board of trustees with the support of the Advisory Committee and Steering Committee formed by corporate heads and experts in various fields.

Annamrita also provides tax exemption to its donors as well as FCRA facility for overseas donors.

The menu is prescribed by the Government. It consists of rice based preparations in most of the regions and additionally wheat based preparations in Northern India. Dishes include, sambhar khichdi, moong dal khichdi, pulao, mixed vegetables, Chapati Bhaji, Puri Bhaji, idlis etc. We serve 6 different dishes, 6 days of the week.

The reports issued by the Govt on the basis of independent studies carried out from time to time to assess the impact have shown that some of the quantifiable benefits are in terms of increased enrolment of children in school, enhanced classroom performance by children, improved nutritional status and reduced malnutrition levels.

The benefits of this project are available to eligible students from all Govt aided and municipal / Zilla Parishad schools irrespective of caste, creed, sex or religion.

The Education Department of the State & Central Govt allocates the schools to different NGOs

The cost per meal for a student in Primary Section varies between Rs 5.25 & Rs 5.75 per meal. The cost per meal in Secondary Section varies between Rs 7.75 & 8.50

There is a certain contribution (Rice/Wheat) from the Government of India and a varying contribution from the respective State Governments in terms of a basic cooking charge ie. Rs 3.50 for Primary and Rs.5.20 for Secondary section, per day per child as cooking charges.

The cost of meal is broken up under the following heads

Direct cost
Cost of raw ingredients
Cost of preparation
Distribution expenses
Indirect costs
Administration and other expenses
Publicity and promotion expenses

Yes there is a need to raise funds to meet the following expenses.

• To set up centralized kitchens.
• To maintain the kitchen infrastructure.
• To meet the cost of running expenses, over and above the Government subsidy.

The cost of setting up a kitchen is approx Five Crores including the delivery vehicles. Cost of premises not included.

The main cost components of a centralized kitchen are

• Infrastructure
• Civil work and renovation
• Kitchen equipment
• Delivery vehicles
• Stainless steel delivery and serving vessels
• Miscellaneous costs

There is NO contribution from the Government either Central or State towards setting up centralized kitchens. ISKCON Food Relief Foundation raises funds from individuals, institutions, foundations and corporations to meet these costs.

There is always a delay in receiving the Govt subsidy. As of today the Govt owes more than Rs Nine Crores to Annamrita Food Relief Foundation.

The free rice provided by Govt is of BPL (Below Poverty Line) variety which needs to be cleaned thoroughly resulting in substantial rejection and heavy cost of processing, transportation and warehousing.

The resources are used for feeding school meals to under privileged children

ISKCON raises funds from its devotees and donors specifically for carrying out its activities such as spreading the teachings of Sanatan Dharma as propounded in Vedic scriptures like Bhagwad Gita. To do this it builds beautiful temples and carries out related humanitarian activities for the spiritual upliftment of people at large. As funds raised by ISKCON are specific donations received for such activities the same cannot be diverted for any other purpose. Similarly funds raised by Annamrita for the Mid Day Meal Project cannot be utilised for the spiritual activities of ISKCON.

These are two different activities and therefore ISKCON has two separate charitable trusts for carrying out these two different kinds of humanitarian activities. Annamrita and ISKCON are two separate entities with different and specific purposes.

Annamrita has 2 flagship programs-
Tithi Bhoj – Poor children feeding on special occasions through IFRF
Khichdi Drive – Annamrita hosts a khichdi tasting at a corporate office, wherein, employees get to have the same khichdi which is being served to the children across schools that day. This activity not only helps us fundraise but also creates a greater awareness for our cause.

Donations made to ISKCON Food Relief Foundation are eligible for tax exemption under section 80G of Income Tax Act.

If the donor is a tax payer the amount donated is deducted from the taxable income of the donor.

Other Charitable Trusts making a donation to Annamrita Food Relief Foundation are eligible for Tax Exemption under Sec 80G Corporate bodies, Professionals, Businessmen etc are eligible to 100% Tax Exemption under Sec 35AC . If the source of income of a Donor is from a Salary he is eligible to 100% Tax Exemption under Sec 80GGA(bb)

*Kindly consult your CA to find out which category is applicable to you.

Full Name: to identify and address you as donor
Email Id: to send you the soft copy of the receipt.
Complete Postal Address: to send you the hard copy of the receipt.
Contact numbers: so that our representative can speak to you.
PAN Card number: to process your Tax exemption certificate.
Date of Birth (Preferred): to greet the donor on their birth day

All these details are mandatory and donations would not be processed unless these details are provided. The cheque is to be drawn in favour of ISKCON Food Relief Foundation.

At 19, Jaywant Industrial Estate, Tardeo Road, Tardeo, opposite Sobo Central Mall, Off Haji Ali, Mumbai 400034.

Annamrita has also set-up a hi tech kitchen at Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Medical College & Dr. R.N. Cooper Municipal General Hospital to serve the underprivileged patients and their relatives.

We also have a kitchen in Navi Mumbai at Gala No.8, Plot No.203,Opp.Vibha Indl. Estate, Retibunder Road, Ghodbunder Village, Mira Road East, Mira Bhayandar, Dist. Thane Maharashtra 401107.