Residence: 2nd floor, #12, MN Krishnarao road, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru –560 004

Office: Adamya Chetana, BBMP Samudaya Bhavan, near Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, K G Nagar, Bengaluru- 560 004  

Husband’s Name: Late Shri H N Ananth Kumar 

Six-time MP (Member of Parliament from Bengaluru South) He was  Central Cabinet Minister in Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Govt. and  Shri Narendra Modi Govt. holding important portfolios. He was National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party for Ten years. 

Mother’s Name: Smt. Pratibha Oak  

Father’s Name: Late Shri Prabhakar Oak 

Date of Birth: 11-Mar-1966 

Education: 

• B.E [Electronics and Communication], with Distinction, from B.V.B College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli affiliated to Karnataka University. 
• PG Diploma in Indology from Bengaluru University. 
• Awardee of Doctorate from Rani Chanamma University, Belagavi in the field of “Social work and Innovation”. 

Current Roles: 

• Chairperson of Board of Governors of National Institute of  Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana. 
• Chairperson of Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of  Engineering, Science and Technology, Shibpur, West Bengal. 
• Member of Expert Appraisal committee – Industry 1, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India. 
• Managing Trustee of Adamya Chetana Foundation & Secretary of AnanthKumar Pratishthana. 
• Founder Trustee of Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital, Bengaluru & Bhubaneshwar. 

Student Activism: 

Played an active role at different levels in organizing various student activities of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Served as State Joint Secretary & National executive member of  ABVP.

Work Experience: 

• 1988 – 1993: Lecturer SDM college of Engineering, Dharwad  and BMS college of Engineering, Bangalore, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering and Software Engineer at Srujana Technologies, Bengaluru. 
• 1993 – 1997: Scientist at ADA 1993-1997, worked for Light  Combat Aircraft (LCA – Tejas) project in the Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) department. (ADA was then headed by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam) 

Adamya Chetana Foundation: 

Adamya Chetana was founded in 1997, in the fond memory of  Smt. Girija Shastry, Late Sri AnanthKumar’s mother as a tribute to  her indomitable spirit. The projects of Adamya Chetana have  worked towards positively impacting the nourishment, learning and  health of thousands of under privileged children– Anna, Akshara  and Arogya. 

Mid-day Meal Initiative: 

As an NGO, Adamya Chetana feeds over 1,60,000 (One lakh Sixty thousand) under- privileged on daily basis with Government and  donors support. The hot nutritious midday meal is cooked at four  central kitchens, at Bengaluru, Hubballi, Kalaburgi in Karnataka and  Jodhpur in Rajasthan.

• 40,000 children of 260 schools – Bengaluru – since 2003
• 75,000 children of 374 rural schools around Hubli-Dharwad Haveri covering the most remote schools – since 2005
• 10,000 children of 67 rural & urban schools of Kalburgi district – since 2006
• 38,000 children of 255 schools in Jodhpur, in Rajasthan – since  2006

Nitya Annadana: 

Under this project EIGHT Nitya annadaan food distribution camps  are being run on daily basis, FIVE in Bengaluru city, ONE each in  Hubballi, Kalaburgi and Jodhpur in Rajasthan. In every camp hot  nutritious lunch is served to over 150- 200 people every day without  any charges.

Concept of Green Kitchen: 

The major achievements of the mid-day meal kitchen of Bengaluru are:

• “ZERO GARBAGE KITCHEN” – since 2011 
• The fuel used for cooking is “FOSSIL FREE” fuel, there is  No Diesel, No LPG, No Fire wood – 100% Bio fuel from waste material- since 2009.

With an innovative and path breaking approach, Adamya Chetana’s mid-day meal program has become a role model for other mid-day  meal providers across the country. 

Adamya Chetana has gained expertise in cooking & serving for  large numbers with zero garbage and the use of non-fossil fuels. 

Other Initiatives: 

• Monthly magazine for children, “Chinnara Chetana” is one of  its kind wall magazines for young children, carrying informative articles about environment, science and culture. It is distributed to over 1000 schools across Karnataka. – since 2008 
•  Adamya Chetana has set up a “Plate bank” from where one  can borrow steel plates, cups and spoons for free of cost, for various events. This substantially reduces the garbage created during any public gatherings. Plant Bank runs in Bengaluru, Hubballi and Gadag. – since 2015. The plate bank at Bengaluru has over 10,000 sets of cutlery. 
•  “Green Sunday” is a citizen initiative to improve the tree cover  of Bengaluru city. Every Sunday native species tree planting drives are conducted in different parts of the city – since 2016. As of November 2024, 460 consecutive green Sundays have been completed. This has also inspired groups to start a similar project in Raichur and Bellary and Hubballi and other places
• “Grama Chetana” – Through AnanthKumar Pratishthan  designing training modules and started conducting workshops with women panchayat members to train them on constitutional values, leadership skills, communication, local history and environmental sensitivity. 
•  Runs a monthly magazine Ananth Patha and also regularly  organize National level webinar called “Nation First Dialogue” bringing leaders, opinion makers on highly relevant topics. 

COVID Relief Activities: 

• First wave – year 2020 During Lockdown – First mega kitchen  in Bharath, to start its operations with the help of volunteers – over 15,000 food packets per day were cooked for 50days and in second wave – 2021 for over 40 days, daily 75000 food packets have been cooked & distributed to covid warriors, crematorium, hospital, police station, vaccination centres with the help of BBMP and Youth for Seva and other NGOs.
• Supplied a total of 28,000 grocery kits in 2020 & 15500 kits in  second wave, each kit containing 15 kg grocery along with a unique and nutritious ready-to- cook upma mix to economically backward groups, slum dwellers, migrant and strangled laborer, with the financial support from WIPRO Foundation and other NGOs.