There are several advancements in technology
that has indeed made our lives easy but how much of these development can
benefit society from a three sixty degree view. Technology has indeed made
impact interventions but are we able to harness enough to benefit all?
Talking about mid-day meal we can have a
distinct view on its applications and benefits. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is one of the largest free school lunch programme
initiated by the Government of India. It is to ensure that children receive
nutritious meals and can concentrate on studies rather than on earning a square
meal. It is to tackle classroom hunger and promote education. In order to
implement this, there are kitchens across the country to run the programme. As
these kitchens have to cater to thousands and millions of children every day,
they are categorised as centralised kitchens and decentralised kitchens.
Centralised kitchens are mechanised kitchens equipped for mass production of
mid-day meal and they also act as nodal kitchen for a set of schools in a
particular region. This model of kitchens is viable and largely seen in urban
areas.
Signs of technological intervention are a sure
sight in all the kitchens of The Akshaya
Patra Foundation. A walk into any kitchen unit of the Foundation will give
a well maintained factory-like feel. A closer look will reveal that it is a
kitchen that bustles up every morning to prepare thousands and millions of meal.
Right from huge rice cauldrons beginning with 500 litres cooking capacity and
dal cauldrons with capacity of 1,200 litres to 3,000 litres of dal, there are
mechanised roti making machines that can roll out 200,000 rotis from 6,000
kilograms of wheat flour. Not just for cooking, Akshaya Patra also utilises
technology in storage and delivery process. There are cold storages in each
kitchen to store ready-to-cook cut vegetables to retain freshness. For
delivering the cooked food, the NGO makes use of custom-made
insulated vehicles to control temperature loss so that freshness
of the cooked meal remains intact till it is served to the children. In order
to ensure safety and on-time delivery, methods like logistic charting for route
optimization and GPRS are adopted and implemented in the kitchens.
There many more
applications of technology that have helped in continuous increase of productivity,
enhanced quality and improved service. These interventions have also
potentially affected sustainability of each kitchen allowing the Foundation to
increase its beneficiary base. Yet, Akshaya Patra continues to explore newer
avenues to further advance its capacity of feeding millions of children
and move forward in eradicating classroom hunger.
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