June 7, 2012 | Indo American News
Dr. K. T. Shah, a former volunteer co-chair of Houston chapter of Akshaya Patra USA, has circulated a letter voicing numerous issues and disagreements with the management of Akshaya Patra. His heart is in the right place but he has chosen a path that is causing unintended damage to the organization and its noble mission: no child shall be deprived of education because of hunger.
The Akshaya Patra USA board wants to reassure you that while issues and disagreements are driven by Dr. Shah’s passionate support of the Akshaya Patra mission, they are his opinion. The Akshaya Patra board and the staff will continue to work in an ethical manner on behalf of the underprivileged children to ensure that hunger is not a barrier to education for them.
Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, the Chairman of the parent organization, Akshaya Patra India, who is also a board member of the Akshaya Patra USA, reaffirms full confidence of the India board in the sincere services of Mr. Desh Deshpande and Mrs. Madhu Sridhar.
The first several questions that Dr. Shah is raising can be attributed to difference in style and approach. Our efforts to close the differences through communication were not successful. So, when Dr. Shah chose to resign on September 30, 2011 the Board accepted his resignation.
Mr. Naveen Khurana, the Akshaya Patra USA board member who resigned in August, 2011 has the following to say on June 1, 2012 in response to Dr. Shah’s comment about the role of arbitrator:
“I have been involved with Akshaya Patra India and Akshaya Patra USA for over ten years now. I served on the board of Akshaya Patra USA since inception. I was very proud to be on the board of the organization with a noble mission that is executing with complete transparency and discipline both in India and the USA. I resigned on August 1, 2011 to pursue my personal interests related to Vedic teachings. I had been postponing writing, publishing and teaching work and wanted to devote time to that. Even after my resignation, I have been in touch and in discussions with Akshaya Patra and have kept in touch with both Desh Deshpande and Madhu Sridhar of Akshaya Patra USA. I am still helping the fundraising teams both in India and the USA.”
Dr. Shah also alludes to a lack of transparency in the reporting of financials. The Annual Report of Akshaya Patra India gives a detailed accounting of the funds sent from the US. To its credit, Akshaya Patra has won Gold Shield awards for three consecutive years for best financial reporting from the Indian Institute of Chartered Accountants. Akshaya Patra USA files financials with the IRS on a timely basis after they are audited by an independent auditor. In addition, 990s are filed on a regular basis and these are public documents. Mr. Prabhakar Kalavacherla is a board member on the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Prior to his current role he was an audit partner at KPMG LLP. He serves as the audit committee chair for Akshaya Patra USA board.
The Akshaya Patra India Board is proud to have Mr. Desh Deshpande, a much sought after visionary leader, chairing the Akshaya Patra USA board. He is devoting countless hours in guiding and mentoring both India and the US fundraising teams, traveling all across US promoting Akshaya Patra. He and his wife, Mrs. Jaishree Deshpande, have made personal donation of close to a million dollars to Akshaya Patra since 2004 to help build kitchens and continues to support funding of the US office. He spends his after tax dollars for travel and any related expenses to raise funds.
Mrs. Madhu Sridhar, the first President and CEO of Akshaya Patra USA, has worked tirelessly to build the first Akshaya Patra office outside of India and has established the appropriate processes that can scale. She has brought the finest and the most accomplished luminaries to serve on the Advisory Board of Akshaya Patra USA including Mr. Narayan Murthy, Mr. Nitin Nohria, Mr. Deepak Chopra and Mr. Fareed Zakaria. Mrs. Sridhar’s efforts have been an inspiration to start chapters in Canada and UK. Her successful efforts in USA have inspired the organization in India to invest more towards engaging professionals in fund raising in India.
We look forward to the leadership and guidance of Mr. Desh Deshpande and the invaluable services of Mrs. Madhu Sridhar to build an organization that can raise funds globally to achieve our goal of serving five million children by 2020.
The Akshaya Patra USA Board and the staff will continue to strive to make Akshaya Patra an organization that other NGOs can look up to as a benchmark with your enduring support. We thank you for making Akshaya Patra your philanthropic priority.
Board of Akshaya Patra USA
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