Foundation denies misuse of funds

D K Shivakumar (Congress) had raised the issue in the Assembly and alleged that the Foundation is collecting crores of rupees as donations for the scheme and investing the same in real estate.

The independent trustees are: T V Mohandas Pai, Abhay Jain, Ramadas Kamath, V Balakrishna and Raj Kondur. In a release to the media, the trustees have replied to each of the allegations.

Allegation: APF is depicting India in poor light to collect donations for the scheme.
Reply: Pictures used to make allegations were printed images copied from a video documentary taken out of context with a doctored heading. Such a photo has never been used by APF anywhere. The children have not been portrayed in a manner which would bring disrespect to the country.

Allegation: It is illegal to collect donations for a Government-sponsored scheme.
Reply: The Union government has permitted mobilising resources for conversion of food grains into a cooked meal. APF has not stated anything that will make anybody assume that it has taken full credit of running the scheme.

Allegation: Financial irregularities in implementing the scheme and amassing wealth by investing in real estate.

Reply: APF does not own any real estate of its own except for kitchens to run the scheme. The funds are properly accounted for and the audited accounts published on the website.

Allegation: Several NGOs are spending Rs 2.80 per meal, while APF is showing Rs 6 per meal.

Reply: The current cost per meal in the country is Rs 4.68. The cost has come down over the last several years due to economics of scale. This has been disclosed and data put up on the web page.