Before
After
Halegere Village School
Karnataka
From cracked walls, unsafe roofing and broken sanitation to a fully restored campus — safe classrooms, filtered drinking water and dedicated teachers.
About Akshara Daana
Akshara Daana — Education Initiative.
The Vision of Smt. Revathi Kamath
Akshara Daana is a visionary initiative conceived by Smt. Revathi Kamath with the noble mission of transforming rural education through the collective power of community participation and crowdfunding. The initiative believes that when people come together with a shared purpose, even small contributions can create a lasting impact on the lives of thousands of children.
Over the past six years, Smt. Revathi Kamath has been working tirelessly for underprivileged rural schools across Karnataka. Her efforts have focused on providing quality educational infrastructure and creating a better learning environment for children. The initiative has undertaken the construction of toilets, repair of damaged walls, windows, doors and flooring, waterproofing of school buildings, rectification of water leakages, improvement of drinking water facilities, and development of school playgrounds.
Akshara Daana has also introduced modern educational facilities by providing children’s play equipment, digital classrooms, projectors, computers, and improved teaching resources. Better-quality teacher training programmes have been organised to enhance classroom learning. A mobile science laboratory has been introduced to reach schools in remote areas, enabling practical, hands-on learning experiences. More than 200 laboratory kits and science learning materials have already been distributed to schools.
Jump to:
The Reality
Before Smt. Revathi Kamath's arrival — Halegere Village School
The Journey
School restoration work in progress
The Dream
After successful restoration
200+ laboratory kits distributed. Countless smiles restored.
Add your drop — and watch the next school transform.
Having worked extensively at the grassroots level, Smt. Revathi Kamath realised that the need is far greater than what one individual or organisation can achieve alone. This inspired her to create Akshara Patra, a people’s movement that encourages every individual to participate in rebuilding rural education — not only across Karnataka but eventually throughout India and beyond.
Her heartfelt appeal is simple: every person can contribute an affordable amount, and together these small contributions can transform hundreds of government schools that are presently in a state of neglect into safe, functional, and inspiring centres of learning.
She firmly believes in the timeless principle:
“Every drop makes an ocean.”
If each one of us becomes that single drop, together we can create an ocean of opportunities for millions of children. By educating a child, we strengthen a family; by strengthening families, we build a stronger nation.
Smt. Revathi Kamath has observed that many children of daily-wage labourers remain trapped in the same cycle of poverty because they lack access to quality education. Labourers’ children often become labourers, drivers’ children become drivers — not because of lack of ability, but because they lack educational opportunities. Akshara Daana seeks to break this cycle and empower every child with the gift of education.
Helping one child uplifts an entire family. Helping one school transforms an entire community.
“Vidyādhanam Sarva Dhanam Pradhānam.”
The gift of education is the greatest of all gifts.
Let us join hands to create educated, empowered and responsible citizens. Together, we can build a brighter future for our children, our communities, and our nation.
Become a Visionary
Karnataka Kalashree Awardee
Smt. Revathi Kamath
Founder · Akshara Daana
Philanthropist · Entrepreneur · Environmentalist
“Education is the most sustainable form of social transformation.”
The Founder
Smt. Revathi Kamath, Founder — Akshara Daana.
Smt. Revathi Kamath is a Karnataka Kalashree awardee, honoured by the state for a lifetime of contribution to the arts. She is also an entrepreneur, environmentalist and philanthropist whose work over three decades has moved fluently between the classical arts, dignified livelihoods, community-led ecology and, most recently, rural education.
For the past six years she has committed her time, resources and personal presence to rural schools across Karnataka — walking classrooms, sitting with teachers, meeting parents, and building small, measurable improvements at each village school she adopts. Her belief is that transformation is slow, granular and school-by-school — not a headline event.
Akshara Daana is her current, focused chapter. It carries forward everything she has learned across music, business, community work and public service: that lasting change is made by people who show up patiently, over years, and treat the villages they work with as equal partners.
Karnataka Kalashree
State recognition for lifetime contribution to arts and culture.
Philanthropist
Six years of full-time work in rural Karnataka schools.
Entrepreneur
Enterprises built around women, artisans and first-generation earners.
Environmentalist
Sustained community-led ecological work across the state.
Her Journey · Four Chapters
A life told in four unhurried chapters.
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Chapter
Music, Culture & the Arts
Trained in Karnatik music and steeped in the classical arts from childhood, Smt. Revathi Kamath grew up inside the disciplines of raga, laya and craft. That grounding in tradition — patient, rigorous, respectful of teachers — became the tone of everything she later built.
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Chapter
Enterprise & Livelihoods
As an entrepreneur, she has built enterprises that place women, rural artisans and first-generation earners at the centre. Her conviction — dignified work first, everything else after — has shaped a career that treats livelihood as the foundation of every social gain.
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Chapter
Environment & Community
Alongside her cultural and business work she has driven long-running community and environmental initiatives across Karnataka — reforestation drives, water-body restoration, and public-space revival — always in partnership with local villages and gram panchayats, never above them.
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Chapter
Rural Education — the Current Chapter
Akshara Daana is her present focus. A full-time commitment to Karnataka's rural schools: bringing quality teachers, safe classrooms, hygiene, digital learning and dignity to children who have long been asked to make do with less.
— The current chapter of a lifetime of service. —
Why Akshara Daana
Why Akshara Daana?
We are a small, unhurried project. What we can promise is transparency, patience and presence — and a rare refusal to look away when the work gets slow or unglamorous.
Radical Transparency
Every rupee is accounted for. Fund utilisation is published, and every donor receives regular, plain-language updates from the field.
Ground-Level Implementation
We do not sub-contract impact. Our team lives inside the schools we adopt, visits weekly, and reports back to donors school by school.
Long-Term Adoption Model
We do not do one-off drives. Each adopted school is a multi-year commitment — teachers, hygiene, teaching aids and monitoring — for as long as it takes.
Community as Partner
The gram panchayat, headmaster, teachers and parents are our partners — not our beneficiaries. Every intervention is co-designed on the ground.
Our Core Team
The Hands Behind the Movement.
A diverse collective of visionary leaders and ground-team members, working closely to build an ethical philanthropic movement across rural Karnataka.
Dr. K. S. Nagesh
Chief Advisor · Rajyotsava Awardee
A Karnataka Rajyotsava Awardee, Dr. K. S. Nagesh guides Akshara Daana as its Chief Advisor. His decades of public service and deep understanding of Karnataka's social fabric shape the movement's direction — ensuring every school we adopt is approached with wisdom, integrity and a long view.
Anitha Dasappa
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Environmental Engineer with over 25 years of experience across the government and non-government sectors. A dedicated education advocate committed to advancing equitable opportunities and empowering communities through education. Working alongside founder Mrs. Revathi Kamath, she provides strategic leadership in expanding educational initiatives.
Dr. Dayaprasad G Kulkarni
Founder & Director · AarogyaSeva and The Billion Hopes Philanthropic Fund
Public health expert and visionary leader dedicated to grassroots social transformation and universal healthcare access across underserved regions.
Manu Gowda
Lead Member, Akshara Daana
Entrepreneur, educationist, environmentalist and social changemaker committed to creating a greener, more sustainable and knowledge-driven society. Actively involved in educational initiatives, lake rejuvenation, afforestation and community development projects.
Navya Raju
Architect & Sustainability
Harvard GSD specialist working on measurable impact and ecological school restoration — bringing sustainable design thinking to every school Akshara Daana adopts.
Dr. Abhinandan Ballary
Joint Director, International Council for AI Development · PR & Media
An accomplished academician, writer and leader who has served as Principal and Professor at various institutions, Dr. Abhinandan Ballary currently heads the International Council for AI Development as Joint Director and is associated with United Nations Global Compact outreach programmes. Driven by a deep commitment to education and social transformation, he has joined Akshara Daana to help realise the vision of Smt. Revathi Kamath — turning aspirations into action, empowering underprivileged children through education, and giving wings to young dreams.
Mr. Upendra Kumar K R
AI Expert · Partner, ODEE
Entrepreneur, technology strategist and innovation leader building technology that solves real-world challenges at scale. Founder & CEO of ODEE (One Destination for Education & Excellence), an AI-powered Education Operating System, and Founder of Zagoo Smart Parking. His belief: “Technology should not merely automate systems — it should improve lives.” He aims to position India as a global leader in AI-driven, personalized education for every student.
Rajini Rekha Yedla
Creative Strategy & Social Impact Advisor
A multidisciplinary entrepreneur, artist and art curator, sustainable fashion innovator and social impact advocate. An NIFT alumna and graduate of IIM Bangalore's Women Entrepreneurs Management Programme, she is the Founder-Director of AKAB Innovations, Rêves Art Gallery and Rêves La Veste — integrating innovation, art, sustainable fashion and technology-driven apparel manufacturing. She champions responsible design, Indian heritage and contemporary power dressing, and uses art and design with NGOs and community initiatives to foster awareness, inclusivity and positive social change.
Smt. Alkananda
Member
A committed member of the Akshara Daana circle, Smt. Alkananda lends her time and care to the movement — supporting school visits, community outreach and the everyday work that keeps rural classrooms moving forward.
Dr. Subhashini
Member
A practising physiotherapist and healthcare professional, Dr. Subhashini brings a caring, clinical eye to Akshara Daana — supporting the health, hygiene and well-being of children in the schools we adopt, and lending her time to school visits and community outreach.
Surendra Kuthloor Hegde
Advisory Council Member · Entrepreneur & Well-being Catalyst
Co-founder & CEO of E & L Hyperform Pvt. Ltd. and Co-founder of Kimera Wellness Spa Salon. Guided by a philosophy of holistic well-being, sustainability and harmony with nature, he believes in creating meaningful spaces and nurturing healthier communities. At Akshara Daana, he brings this vision to ensuring that every rupee invested in rural schools contributes to safe, sustainable and dignified learning environments where children can thrive.
Deepti Ashok
Member
A warm and committed member of the Akshara Daana circle, Deepti Ashok supports the movement's school visits, community outreach and events — bringing energy and care to the everyday work of keeping rural classrooms moving forward.
Add your hands to the movement.
Volunteers, field partners, teachers, donors and well-wishers — we welcome every kind of contribution to rural education.
