Tejaswini AnanthKumar
ತೇಜಸ್ವಿನಿ ಅನಂತಕುಮಾರ್
Dr. Tejaswini AnanthKumar is the Managing Trustee of the Adamya Chetana Foundation, leading impactful initiatives in the areas of nutrition, education, health, and community development. An engineer by training and a former scientist, she is known for institution-building and social innovation. She began her professional journey in academia and the aerospace sector, including work as a Scientist at the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) on the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA–Tejas) programme, before transitioning to large-scale public service and governance.
She currently serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, Kolkata, W.B. and NIT Kurukshetra, Haryana, appointed by the Hon’ble President of India; is a Member of the Board of Governors,
Husband: Late Shri H N AnanthKumar, six times MP (Member of Parliament) from Bengaluru South. He was a Central Cabinet Minister in Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Govt and Shri Narendra Modi Govt. holding important portfolios and was the National General Secretary of Bhartiya Janata Party.
Mother: Smt Pratibha Oak
Father: Late Shri Prabhakar Oak
Date Of Birth: 11-Mar-1966
Residence : 2nf floor, #12, MN Krishnarao road, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru – 560 004 Ph: 08026568484
Office : Adamya Chetana, BBMP Samudaya Bhavan, near Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, K G Nagar, Bengaluru. Ph: 08026620404
Education
- B.E [Electronics and Communication], with Distinction, from B.V.B College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli affiliated to Karnatak University
- PG Diploma in Indology from Bengaluru University
- Honorary Doctorate from Rani Channamma University, Belagavi in the field of “Social work and Innovation”
Current Responsibilities
- Managing Trustee, Adamya Chetana Foundation
- Secretary, Ananth Kumar Pratishthan
- Chairperson, Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology, Shibpur, West Bengal and NIT, Kurukshetra, Haryana
- Founder Trustee, Sri Sankara Cancer Foundation, Bengaluru & Bhuvaneshwara
- Member, Board of Governors, IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand
- Director, Vibhava Industries Pvt Ltd, Hubballi
1983 – 1988
While in college, 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.
1988
Lecturer at SDM college of Engineering, Dharwad and BMS college of Engineering, Bengaluru and Software Engineer at Srujana Technologies, Bengaluru
1993
Scientist at Aeronautical Development Agency-ADA, worked on 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 was founded in 1997, in 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 1,50,000 (One lakh Fifty thousand) under-privileged school Children 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.
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.
42,000 children of 260 schools – Bengaluru – since 2003
65,000 children of 374 rural schools around Hubli-Dharwad-Haveri covering the most remote schools – since 2005
9,000 children of 67 rural & urban schools of Kalburgi district – since 2006
38,000 children of 240 schools in Jodhpur, in Rajasthan – since 2006
Nitya Annadaan: Under this project a total of Ten Nitya Annadaan, food distribution camps are being run, 5 in Bengaluru city, 1 in Hubballi, 1 in Kalaburagi, 1 Ayodhya & 2 in Jodhpur. In every camp hot nutritious lunch is served to over 150 to 200 people every day without any charges.
Through its Midday Meal program and Annadaan initiative, Adamya Chetana feeds 1,60,000 people daily, and over the past 22 years, the total number of meals served has crossed 74 crore.
The major achievements of the mid-day meal kitchen of Bengaluru are –
- ZERO GARBAGE KITCHEN– since 2011 no waste has been given to BBMP for disposing.
- 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.
- It was the first mega kitchen in India to start operations during the COVID-19 lockdown, cooking over 15,000 meals per day for 40 consecutive days.
Other Initiatives of Adamya Chetana
- Monthly magazine for children, 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 free of cost for conducting events at home, office or at community centers. This substantially reduces the garbage created during any public gatherings. Plant Bank operates at Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mysuru, Raichuru, Kalaburagi, Sirsi, Kumta, Gadag and Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Dehradun in Uttarakhand, Kolkata in West Bengal. The plate bank at Bengaluru has over 10,000 sets of plates. The plate bank has supported thousands of events in reducing the waste.
- “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. So far (as of September 03, 2025), 504 consecutive Green Sundays have been completed. This has also inspired green volunteers to start a similar project in Raichur and Bellary and in Hubballi.
- Year 2019 to till date – Secretary AnanthKumar Pratishthan : AnanthKumar Pratishthan conducts regular workshops for selected women from rural areas to train them in constitutional values, leadership skills, communication, local history, and environmental sensitivity. This program is named Gram Chetana.
- The Pratishthan also publishes a monthly magazine called Ananth Patha and regularly organizes a national-level webinar series titled Nation First Dialogues, bringing together leaders, policymakers, and the general public to discuss highly relevant topics. It is also engaged in developing undergraduate-level teaching courses on the Indian Knowledge System (IKS), approved by AICTE.5. 2008 to till date : Founder Trustee of Sri Sankara Cancer Foundation. It runs one of the leading charitable cancer hospitals of India. Two state of the art hospitals, one in Bengaluru and one more in Bhubaneshwar in Orissa, are providing quality care for thousands of patients.
- 2023 – till date: Appointed as Chairperson of Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology Shibpur, West Bengal by Hon President of India. IIEST, the erstwhile Bengal Engineering College, is India’s second oldest engineering institution.
- 2024 – till date: Member, Board of Governors, IIT, Roorkee.
- 2025 – till date Chairperson, Board of Governors, NIT, Kurukshetra
IIT Roorkee; and has served as a Member of the Expert Appraisal Committee (Industry–I) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering with Distinction from B.V.B. College of Engineering and Technology, Hubballi (Karnatak University), a Postgraduate Diploma in Indology from Bengaluru University, and an Honorary Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Social Work and Innovation from Kittur Rani Channamma University, Belagavi.
Her leadership journey began during her student years with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), where she served as State Joint Secretary and National Executive Member. She later worked as a Lecturer at SDM College of Engineering, Dharwad, and BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru, and as a Software Engineer at Srujana Technologies, Bengaluru. From 1993 to 1997, she served as a Scientist at the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), contributing to the LCA–Tejas project in the Independent Verification and Validation Division, during the tenure of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Founded in 1997, the Adamya Chetana Foundation works across the pillars of Anna (Nutrition), Akshara (Education), and Arogya (Health).
- Under her leadership, the Foundation today serves over one lakh sixty-five thousand (1,65,000) hot, nutritious mid-day meals per day to schoolchildren through centralised kitchens in Bengaluru, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, and Jodhpur, making it one of India’s leading mid-day meal implementing organisations.
- These are pioneering Zero Garbage Kitchens, demonstrating an alternative way of cooking without generating waste for over a decade.
- 100% fossil-fuel-free Green Kitchens: no LPG and no firewood; cooking fuel is entirely derived from waste materials.
- The Foundation also runs Nitya Annadana programmes at ten locations across India, serving free meals daily to the needy—five centres in Bengaluru, two in Jodhpur, and one each in Kalaburagi and Hubballi. In Ayodhya, a small kitchen is set up preparing Idli–Sambar for 200 people daily.
- It manages Plate Banks across multiple cities to reduce single-use paper or plastic. Through these Plate Banks, organisers are supported in conducting zero-waste events, whether marriages, seminars, or mega melas. As of January 2026, 33 Plate Banks across five states are functional.
- Adamya Chetana leads Green Sunday, a citizen-driven tree plantation movement that has completed 525 consecutive Sundays as of January 2026, planting lakhs of trees in and around Bengaluru.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, Adamya Chetana operated one of India’s earliest large-scale volunteer kitchens, serving up to 75,000 meals per day, distributing 30,000 grocery kits, and supporting frontline workers and public institutions.
As Secretary of the Ananth Kumar Pratishthana since 2019, she leads initiatives such as Grama Chetana, a structured leadership and capacity-building programme for women Panchayat representatives; oversees the publication of the monthly magazine Ananth Patha; and organises the national webinar series “Nation First Dialogue.”
A Founder Trustee of the Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation since 2008, she has played a key role in the growth of one of India’s leading charitable cancer care institutions, with state-of-the-art hospitals in Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar, providing affordable and quality care to thousands of patients annually.
She was born on 11 March 1966 to Late Shri Prabhakar Oak and Smt. Pratibha Oak. She is the wife of Late Shri H. N. AnanthKumar, a six-time Member of Parliament from Bengaluru South, former Union Cabinet Minister in the Governments of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shri Narendra Modi, and former National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party—widely regarded as a beloved and respected public leader known for his unwavering commitment to public service and national development.
Contact Details
Residence:
- Sumeru, #12, M. N. Krishnarao Road, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru – 560004
- 080-26568484
Office:
- Adamya Chetana Foundation, BBMP Samudaya Bhavan, Near Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, K. G. Nagar, Bengaluru
- 080-26620404