AnanthKumar

Founder

AnanthKumar is the founder of Adamya Chetana (1997)[1], an Indian non-profit working on hunger, education and environment from Bengaluru.

Ananth Kumar (22 July 1959 – 12 November 2018) was an Indian politician who represented Bangalore South in the Lok Sabha for six consecutive terms from 1996 until his death, and served as a union minister in the Vajpayee and Modi governments.

In 1997 he founded the Bengaluru charity Adamya Chetana in memory of his mother, Girija Shastri, together with his wife Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, who has been its managing trustee since its inception. The organisation is best known for Annapoorna, a midday meal service that supplies cooked meals to schoolchildren.

Early life and education

Ananth Kumar was born on 22 July 1959 in Bangalore. He took bachelor's degrees in arts and in law at institutions affiliated to Karnatak University, Hubli.

Career

He was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Bangalore South in 1996 and held the seat until his death. In the Vajpayee government between 1998 and 2003 he held the civil aviation, tourism, culture, youth affairs and sports, and urban development portfolios. In the Modi government from 2014 he was Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. As minister he oversaw a reduction in the prices of medical devices and a large expansion of the Jan Aushadhi network of low-cost medicine outlets.

Adamya Chetana, founded in 1997, works in food, education, health, culture and the environment. Its Annapoorna midday meal programme, launched in 2003 in partnership with government, supplies cooked meals daily from central kitchens in Bengaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Kalaburagi and Jodhpur, reaching well over a hundred thousand children. The organisation also runs health camps, educational support and environmental initiatives such as zero-waste kitchens and a steel plate bank, and during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic distributed tens of thousands of meals a day. Ananth Kumar also promoted tree-planting through the Green Bangalore campaign and the EcoChetana programme.

He died in Bengaluru on 12 November 2018, aged 59, of pancreatic cancer.

Recognition

Adamya Chetana has been recognised by the Government of Karnataka with the Amrita Mahotsava State Award, and has received national recognition for its food and health services.[2][3][4]

Adamya Chetana

Adamya Chetana, founded in 1998 in Bengaluru in memory of Ananth Kumar's mother Girija Shastry, runs Annapoorna, a mid-day meal programme reaching over 2 lakh children a day from kitchens in Bengaluru, Hubballi, Kalaburagi and Jodhpur. Its kitchens run on biofuel and steam, send no garbage to municipal bins, and the organisation also runs education, plate-bank and green-lifestyle initiatives.

Adamya Chetana reports the following, on its own site: