National Geographic Channel to feature Akshaya Patra in Mega Kitchens

Mega Kitchens is one of the most popular series in the National Geographic Channel and The Akshaya Patra Foundation is proud to have been selected to get featured in this series. In an episode titled ‘Akshaya Patra - Shiksha Ka Mahabhog’ the Foundation’s kitchen will be telecasted on Monday, 27^th April 2015 at 9 p.m. (IST) in the NGC Mega Kitchens. It will be a documentary on how Akshaya Patra cooks millions of meals every day to feed children so that they continue coming to school and receive rightful education.

With the mid-day meal being taken care of children has the opportunity to concentrate in their academics and also excel in co-curricular activities. This series will give an inside view to Akshaya Patra’s kitchen operations and processes. Click Akshaya Patra - Shiksha Ka Mahabhog to get a sneak peek into the episode.

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A Compassionate Akshaya Patra Beneficiary

Nausheen is a student of class nine in the Zilla Parishad High School in Telangana, a beneficiary school of the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal programme. Though she is so young she is already a very emotionally mature and compassionate young lady. She does extremely well in class and already knows what her ambition is. "I want to become a lecturer. I love Hindi language and I want to become a good teacher to my students," she says.

Part of what Nausheen also loves about school is the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal. "I love the khichdi (rice and lentils) served by Akshaya Patra,” she exclaims.

Nausheen’s older sister, Afreen, also studies at the same school in class ten. Her sister lives with an ailment of the hand that prevents her from being able to move the limb. This affliction has caused her so much upset that often she refuses to eat the Akshaya Patra lunch provided at the school in case her classmates make fun of her.

Nausheen, at such a young age, has already taken on the responsibilities of helping her mother and sister with their chores, with compassion.

On hearing Nausheen and her sister’s story we were moved to take assurances from the teachers of the school that efforts would be made to make Afreen more comfortable. We hope that she has the opportunity to feel happy and settled, enjoying Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal served hot on the school campus.

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Highly mechanised Akshaya Patra in the cards

Akshaya Patra is gearing up to construct its most modernised and also one of its largest kitchens yet! Scheduled to come up in approximately three months in Hyderabad, this Akshaya Patra kitchen will be using state-of-the-art technology from Sweden to greatly reduce the cooking time normally taken in the kitchen. With this equipment the kitchen staff will be able to cook 1,600 kg of rice, 4,800 litres of sambar and 2,000 kg of vegetable in just one hour.

The Akshaya Patra kitchen that is currently operational in Telangana utilises the Cauldron Technology for cooking food that will be used to feed 1 lakh Akshaya Patra beneficiaries a day. However Satya Goura Chandra Dasa, the President of Akshaya Patra’s wings in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh discusses how this technology will help the Foundation improve on the time spent. “"With existing technology, we used to start cooking at 3 am and complete it by around 9 am, but soon we will be able to finish the cooking in two hours, from 6.30 am to 8.30 am," he says.

These customised machines will go a long way to helping Akshaya Patra provide the tasty, nutritious food to thousands of children in an extremely time efficient manner in future.

"We have already conducted trial runs of the food machines in Sweden and they have been successful. Once the GHMC sanctions the building plan, we will begin construction. It is estimated that the new kitchen will be operational in three months," adds Chandra Dasa.

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