Akshay Patra deploys ₹18 crore hi-tech mega kitchen

Construction of the facility is fully funded by Infosys Foundation

Akshay Patra Foundation, a unit of the Hare Krishna Movement in Hyderabad, is constructing a ₹18 crore hi-tech mega kitchen using the latest innovative methods for mass cooking in a hygienic manner at Kandhi, to meet the requirements of both Sangareddy and Medak districts.

Sponsored fully by Sudha Murthy, chairperson of Infosys Foundation, the construction of the facility is nearing completion. By August it will be ready to serve nutritious meals to about one lakh people every day.

Another modern kitchen under construction is at Narsingi in Kokapet which will become operational next month. The Bank of Tokyo has donated ₹10.56 crore for the project. The kitchen has provision for 50,000 meals every day and will cater to Rangareddy district, according to Satya Gaura Chandra Dasa Swami, president of Akshaya Patra, Telangana & AP.

For now, it has one modern kitchen at Patancheru serving one lakh meals every day. As a whole, the TS unit provides mid-day meals with government assistance to about one lakh underprivileged school children daily in Medak and Ranga Reddy district. Altogether it provides daily meals to 16 lakh children across the country.

Akshay Patra has been following six methods to get its act together. All the kitchens are equipped with cauldrons, trolleys, rice chutes, dal/sambar tanks, cutting boards, knives, and are sanitised before usage. A scheduled menu is followed, and it has rice and sambar cauldrons with capacities of 500 litres and 1200-3000 litres, respectively. Quality control is maintained by insisting that suppliers of raw materials follow the regulation of the Food Safety Standards Act 2006 (FSSA), he explains. Fresh vegetables are procured daily, cleaned and sanitised before it is cut. Cold storage is used to store the cut vegetables to retain freshness. Rice is supplied by the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Kitchens follow the FIFO (First In First Out)and FEFO (First Expiry First Out) methods to keep raw materials fresh.

Cooked food is packed in sterilised vessels and transport vehicles are also sterilised by steam before loading. These are also GPRS tracked. “We take daily feedback from schools for maintaining the quality of the meals,” adds Ravi Lochana Dasa (rvldasa@gmail.com) of the Foundation.

Free lunch

Bhojanamrita, a free lunch programme in government hospitals – Osmania, Gandhi, Niloufer, Petlaburj, Sultan Bazar, King Koti Eye Hospital, Sarojini Eye Hospital, Indo-American Cancer, Mahaveer, Govt. TB & Chest, Koti Maternity, RTC crossroads – where there are 4,000 beneficiaries.

Annapoorna - ₹5 a meal at 140 locations in partnership with the GHMC feeding about 33,000 people.

Saddimoota - subsidised meals to about 2,000 farmers and hamalis at market yards of Bowenpally, Siddipet, Gajwel and Vantimamidi where 40,000 meals are made every day.

A ₹9-crore kitchen was opened at Narsingi, Kokapet with contributions. About ₹6 crore was contributed by Nityananada Reddy of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, for making these meals.