Modern centralised kitchen at Mahadevapura to be opened on Nov. 10

Mysuru:  With an intention of serving hot and tasty meals to schoolchildren from Mysuru and Mandya, the Akshaya Patra Foundation run by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has set up a modern kitchen in Mahadevapura, located on the Mysuru-Mandya border. 

The inauguration of the new facility will be held on Sunday, Nov. 10 by Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh and Srirangapatna MLA Ravindra Srikantaiah. Akshaya Patra Foundation Chairman Madhu Pandit Dasa will preside over the event. 

Food for around 25,000 students can be prepared at a time in this kitchen and the system is so advanced that both ragi mudde and roti can be prepared here. It is a zero-effluent discharge unit with all the waste treated using an advanced effluent treatment plant through which biogas for food preparation and manure is prepared, said authorities from ISKCON . 

Akshaya Patra Foundation started its operations in 2002 and is at present serving over 18 lakh students across the country every day. The kitchen is equipped to use fortified rice (Rice is fortified by adding a micronutrient powder to it that adheres to the grains or spraying of the surface of ordinary rice grains in several layers with a vitamin and mineral mix to form a protective coating) supplied by the State Government under the mid-day meal scheme.

The centralised kitchen will serve freshly cooked, nutritious and tasty mid-day meals to children. Through the new kitchen, Akshaya Patra will serve children of 154 schools in Mandya and Mysuru districts. Akshaya Patra will also be feeding 600 children on its own. 

“We are continuously leveraging technology to multiply our reach. The state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and have attracted curious visitors from around the world. Our partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments, along with the persistent support from corporates, individual donors, and well-wishers have helped us to grow from serving just 1,500 children in 5 schools in 2000 to serving 1.8 million children,” ISKCON sources said. 

Akshaya Patra Foundation is the first NGO in Mandya to serve mid-day meals to school students. Besides serving nutritional food to the students, the Foundation is also planning to use this facility to impart quality life skills to students. The Kitchen is a zero discharge unit with all the waste generated, including water is processed in six phases and reused. The idea is to serve the students of both Mysuru and Mandya regions, ISKCON sources said.