Fortified midday meal to counter malnutrition

LUCKNOW:To fight widespread malnutrition among kids, the Akshaya Patra Foundation will serve fortified mid-day meals in government schools.

“After the directives of the state government, Akshaya Patra has decided to deliver mid-day meals with fortified rice, oil and salt. This food provides essential vitamins and minerals that are missing from many people’s diet,” said Sunil Kumar Mehta, general manager (operations), Akhshaya Patra Foundation.

“According to reports, a large number of kids are malnourished even in the state capital,” he said.

Mehta said, “The foundation has decided to expand its kitchen base in Lucknow. At present, the Akshaya Patra kitchen prepares meals for one lakh kids in a day. After expansion, it would be able to cook meal for 1.25 lakh kids. We are going to invest around Rs 5 crore for the expansion of mid-day meal plant.”

He said Akshaya Patra is delivering mid-day meals to 1,276 schools in Mohanlalganj, Bakshi Ka Talab, Sarojini Nagar and Chinhat areas of Lucknow. Usually, attendance is maximum in August, September and October. During this period, attendance remains between 80 and 85%. However, it drops to around 55 % after November. During exams attendance again shoots up to 85 %.

He said work in the plant starts at 5 am and the first lot of food is dispatched at 6.30 am. Around 10 tonnes of rice and 3,000 kg of vegetables are cooked every day. The food prepared here is delivered through 64 vans with airtight stainless steel containers.

Spread in an area of 2 acres in Amausi, the kitchen has eight rice cauldrons of 500 kg each, four cauldrons of 12,000 litres for dal, two huge roti making machines that can produce 45,000 rotis per hour. The kitchen is operated by 220 employees. “The kitchen has a standard process for preparing meals. The effort is to ensure hygiene and quality of the cooked meal and also to adhere to food safety standards. All cooking equipment like trolleys, knives, cauldrons, dal tanks, cutting boards, are sterilised according to FSDA norms. The vessels used are made of stainless steel of 304 grade and are best for cooking and handling food,” said Mehta.